The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors is calling on President Bola Tinubu to allocate a minimum of 15% of the 2024 annual budget to the health sector.Dr. Dele Abdullahi, the President of NARD, made this known in an interview with NewsNow on Sunday. He expressed his disappointment regarding the exclusion of the health sector from the 2023 supplementary budget
Similarly, the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) emphasized the importance of the health sector and expressed their concern over its neglect in the supplementary budget.
Both NARD and JOHESU pointed out that it was regrettable that the health sector was left out of the supplementary budget despite its poor condition.
Last Monday, the National Assembly approved a N2.18tn supplementary budget for the 2023 fiscal year.
The Federal Government stated that the purpose of the supplementary budget was to address urgent matters such as defense, security, and the provision of welfare packages for workers and vulnerable Nigerians to mitigate the impact of petrol subsidy removal.
Expressing his dissatisfaction with the exclusion of the health sector from the supplementary budget, the President of NARD said, “It is disheartening that the health sector was not considered in the supplementary budget. The health sector is in disarray, and there are many issues that need to be addressed. I hope that the 2024 budget for the health sector will be reasonable because Nigeria has continuously failed to meet the target set in the Abuja Declaration since 2001.”
He continued, “I urge the government to allocate a minimum of 15% of the 2024 budget to the health sector. The Abuja Declaration commits the nation to allocate 15% of its annual budget to health.”
Dr. Obinna Ogbonna, the Acting Chairman of JOHESU, also stressed the importance of prioritizing the health sector and criticized its exclusion from the supplementary budget.
He said, “I carefully examined the budget and found no provisions for health. Meanwhile, there are pressing issues such as the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, Consolidated Health Salary Structure, and workers’ welfare that need to be addressed.”
“I would like to believe that the exclusion of the health sector was an oversight. We will raise this matter and urge them to include the health sector in the budget,” he added
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