The Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to implement 15% of the ‘Abuja Declaration’ of its country’s annual budget to the health sector to curb the increasing rate of maternal mortality deaths in the country.
President of the association, Joseph Kadiri gave the charge during the 7th annual conference in Nasarawa state.
He said the allocation of N1.33 trillion representing five percent of the entire 2024 proposed budget is abysmally low and harped on the need to deploy more funds to the health sector to ensure the full implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF).
“This conference brings together stakeholders from both the public and private space in the health sector to examine the federal government’s efforts to tackle the country ‘s poor health indices such as the maternal mortality rate which is still among the highest in the world, with an estimated 512 deaths per 100,000 live births, a high under-five mortality rate of 117 per 1, 000 live births, and the rate of women that deliver outside health facilities at over 65%, among other statistics.”
