Group urges more attention on health financing in Gombe
Chima Azubuike
The Executive Director of Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development (LISDEL), Juliana Abude-Aribo, has urged government on the need to ensure adequate release, utilisation of resources.
She noted that utilisation of resources and accountability would spur for increased allocation in financing healthcare services.
Abude-Aribo made this disclosure at a one-day high-level policy dialogue on RMNCAH+N with the theme ‘Investing in Primary Health Care to address Maternal and Child Health Mortality in Gombe State’, organised by the office of First Lady Asma’u Yahaya, in collaboration with the State Ministry of Health and support from LISDEL.
Our Correspondent reports that the high-level meeting also featured the investiture of new voices which include Yaya Hamari, to champion RMNCAH+N advocacies in the state.
Abude-Aribo disclosed that the essence of the engagement was to review the progress on reproductive health, to review successes as well as discover the gaps that exists.
She said, “Government has been investing in primary healthcare but needs to pay more attention on budget execution. This will include both allocation as well as utilisation and accountability of it even if it’s six percent allocation let’s match it with six percent utilisation. The Ministries Departments and Agencies will have that as evidence to justify for increases.”
On his part, Chairman of Gombe State Accountability Mechanism for Maternal and Newborn and Child Health (GoSAM), Alhassan Yahya, explained that the dialogue was geared towards promoting health financing.
Yahya said, “This is in an effort to reduce maternal mortality in our dear state. The essence is to look at the issues at stake. We felt it is key for government to release budget lines especially in the ministry of health, Primary Health Care Development Agency and other MDAs that are health related. Nutrition alone is not only in the health sector it is multi sectoral.”
Commenting further Yahya called on private sector to support government in financing healthcare services.
“At the same time, private sector should invest in basic healthcare provision. Basic healthcare provision fund is the only health services given to vulnerable people, it the only access to vulnerable without paying a dime. With this government can curb maternal mortality and in the next National Demographics Health Survey there will be improvement in RMNCAH+N, even in school enrolment,” Yahya added.
Also speaking, Wife of Gombe State Governor, Yahaya, promised to lead the campaign towards getting the desired results, Yahaya added, “We will be leading the newly investiture of RMNCAH+N Champions to demand actions that will catalyse efforts towards achieving its strategic objectives in the state.”
