By Ahmad Umar
Gombe (Nigeria)– Gombe State, House of Assembly Committee on Health, north east of the country, has promised to mount pressure on the State Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo on timely release of funds for the implementation of health programmes in 2018
The House Committee on Health, Usman Bature Gwani made the promise when Maternal Neo-natal Child Health (MNCH) Coalition advocacy team visited the Assembly to seek commitment from the committee for adequate resource allocation and timely release of allocated funds to capital health projects of the state in 2018.
The team led by the Chairman of the group, Alhassan Yahaya also wants the retention of health workers in rural areas and influential persons and politicians to stop interfering with postings in the State’s health system.
Some members of the House Health Committee present at the visit, who acknowledged the problem of securing release of budgeted funds, were of the view that budgeting had never been the problem, but the release.
The MNCH team had earlier spoken of inadequacy of budgetary provisions and irregular release of funds for the health sector which has led to poor performance in the health sector.
They requested government to provide at least two functional blood banks in each of the three senatorial zones of the State as against the only two currently serving the entire state, increase in budgetary allocation for health from the current 8.5 per cent to 15 per cent according to Abuja declaration.
Others demands are, to ensure the release of at least 70 per cent of capital budget to the State Ministry of Health and the State Primary Health Care Development Agency as well as the adoption and full implementation of task shifting policy and the adoption and implementation of SPHCDA establishment law.
