By AbdulRaheem Aodu Kaduna
Kaduna state government has been urged to raise its health budget to 15 per cent in line with the Abuja Declaration and ensure timely release and adequate utiisation of health the budget to address high child mortality rate due to pneumonia and diarrhoea in the state.
Team leader, Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFaH), Hajiya Aisha Tukur, who made the call yesterday during an advocacy visit to the state commissioner for budget and planning, said over 400, 000 Nigerian children die due to pneumonia and diarrhoea annually. Aisha Tukur said one out of every fi ve children in Kaduna state die before the age of fi ve with diarrhoea contributing 16
per cent and pneumonia 13 per cent. According to her, the team was on health advocacy visit to the ministry to ensure government support in increasing national and sub national health budget. “Pneumonia is the second single highest killer of children under the age of fi ve in Nigeria contributing 14 per cent second only to malaria, diarrhoea is nine per cent, HIV/AIDS three percent. “Pneumonia and diarrhoea kill 400, 000 children in Nigeria every year, in Kaduna state pneumonia contributes 13% to children death while diarrhoea contributes 16per cent.
One in every fi ve children die before the age of fi ve in Kaduna state. “Th is is why we are here to garner support from the Kaduna state government to increase her health budget to 15 per cent of the total budget or more in line with the Abuja declaration to further reduce maternal and child mortality in the state and give our women and children another lease of life.”
In response, Kaduna state Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Muhammad Abdullahi, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Malam Mahmud Musa said they would be willing to collaborate with PACFaH and other civil society organisations, especially in the area of getting feedback from the people and in budget planning for the future. “We have done well in the 2017 budget considering the circumstances, but for 2018 we will consider the Abuja declaration percentage. We will collaborate with PACFaH when we want to prepare for the next budget. We don’t have challenge with release of fund once there is approval from Government House.”
