[The Activism Blog] Nigeria needs N712bn annually to bridge healthcare financing deficit – BudgIT

Civic tech organisation, BudgIT Nigeria has stated that the health deficit in Nigeria will require an annual budgetary spending of N712 billion.

BudgIT’s lead Partner, Mr Seun Onigbinde stated this while speaking in Abuja on Thursday, October 11, 2017, at the presentation of a report titled, Health Financing Analysis in Ebola-Affected Countries: The Readiness of Primary Healthcare Centres To Tackle Diseases.

He stated that the country’s budgetary allocation to health should be increased, as Nigeria’s health per capita is relatively low when compared to other African countries.

“If Equatorial Guinea could do $663 per citizen, then Nigeria can improve from $118 to at least $300.

“If the health budget is made to attain at least 15 per cent of the national budget, as declared by the African Union, an additional sum of N712 billion ($1.9 billion) will be needed to give the goal sum of N1.09 trillion ($ 3.03 billion), and Nigeria can achieve more tangible investments in the sector,” he said.

On primary healthcare centres, he urged the government to improve healthcare at the PHCs to cater for people in the rural areas.

On his part, the National Coordinator, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, said, “In the work I do and in the agency I lead, NCDC surveillance is one of our core functions and surveillance is not possible if we do not have a strong primary health care system.

“So we are glad that this work highlights some opportunities to improve PHCs in Nigeria and other African countries.

“Once we improve PHCs, it gives us an opportunity to improve surveillance and enable us to detect outbreak quicker and also respond faster,”

 

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