By Ajuma Edwina Ogiri Abuja
Kano State Legislative House of Assembly has passed into law the Kano State Health Trust Fund Bill (KHETFUND), with overwhelming majority votes. Th e Coordinator and Founder, Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) & Civil Societies Representative, Global Financing Facility (GFF) Investors Group, Dr. Aminu Magashi, stated that the law will ensure sustainable fi nancing of the health sector in the state. Magashi said:“Th e fund will be funded as proposed via a monthly 5% deduction of the total money generated from taxation, and 1% monthlyfrom total statutory allocation to the 44 LGAs of state.
It is estimated that despite the economic recession, this fund will generate over N2.5b yearly.” He said the role of Community Health and Research Initiative (CHRI) was only catalytic and technical, to support the assembly take ownership of the process upon a formal written invitation by the clerk of the house.
He further added: “We are also happy to note that CHR support to this process was not funded by any of its current and/or previous local and/or international development partners, and at no point anywhere in this process that donors’ names were mentioned or their funds were used.” Magashi stated that the organisations “will now shift their technical support and advocacy for the Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to assent the law and another series of TA to the State Ministry of Health in developing guidelines, and ownership for its implementation and for its capturing in the 2018 budget process”.
