By Francisca Ukazu
Some Civil Society Organisations,(CSO), under the aegis of Health Sector Reform Coalition,(HSRC) has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari’s fidelity on the statutory one per cent allocation from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the health sector.
The group is asking for the remission of the contributory allocation, as stipulated in the National Health Act, to the 2017 Health Sector budget.
Theresa Iffa Kaka, country representative, Champions for Change, and Edwin Ikhuoria, country lead director of One Campaign, respectively said they were aware the provision of the said National Health Act will not be captured in the 2017 budget.
“We have reliably gathered that the one percent of the consolidated revenue fund in article 11 of the National Health Act needed for Basic Health Provision Fund, BHPF, may not make it through the executive budget proposal for 2017 despite all promises and commitments publicly made by the present government.
“The National Health Act which took 10 years for policy makers to pass, was on the 31st of October 2014 accented to by the former president Goodluck Jonathan. It is two years since the enactment of the Act, yet the government at all levels have not made much effort to see to its implementation,” the group said.
“In 2015, during the visit of the World Health Organisation, WHO, team to celebrate one year without a new polio case, President Buhari stated before the international media that he has directed the Ministry of Finance to ensure the allocation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.
“It was shocking to Nigerians that in 2016, this money was not allocated. Does this mean that the directive of the president has been disregarded especially when the lives of the common man is concerned? The lives of those who voted him into power?.”, they queried.
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