Ebonyi legislators tasked on increased budget for primary health

Legislators and other stakeholders in Ebonyi State have been challenged to work towards increased budgetary allocation to the primary healthcare sector in the state.

The legislators, including House of Assembly members and ward councilors, were particularly charged to always take the responsibility of maintaining, monitoring and supervising primary healthcare projects and facilities within their jurisdiction.

The call was the focus of the maiden quarterly legislative high level advocacy/round table on health sector financing and budgeting performance organised by the Development Integrity Intervention Goals Foundation, a Civil Society Organization, under the sponsorship of the United States Agency for International Development-funded Integrated Health Programme.

Participants at the event held at the State Assembly complex, Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, over the weekend decried the deteriorating state of primary healthcare centres in the state, calling on key players in the budget process to do the needful.

Stakeholders observed that a lot still needs to be done to scale up PHCs to attain the remaining 75 percent service readiness in terms of facilities and services.

Some of the issues raised bordered on dilapidated buildings, access to facilities, sustainable electricity supply, potable water supply, toilet facilities, adequate human resource for health, essential drugs and commodity supply; governance, quality service delivery, security of health workers and patients, as well as issues of access to people living with disabilities.

Speaking to newsmen, the USAID-IHP Leadership and Governance Advisor, Ebonyi State, Chinyere Ikwuakor, noted that the event was in line with the key objective of USAID IHP: assisting Ebonyi State to revitalize its PHCs, strengthen health systems and increase quality of service as well as access to PHC facilities.

She noted that the cumulative effect of the USAID-IHP’s collaboration with its sub-grantee, DIG, would further reduce the rate of maternal and infant mortality, and urged the key policy makers to make the right decision to improve health care delivery in the state .

The Director, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Ebonyi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Leonard Alegu, speaking on behalf of the Executive Secretary, Dr. Kate Barry-Oko, lamented that poor financing had remained the greatest problem affecting the operation and management of primary healthcare in the state.

He expressed hope that the advocacy meeting would help improve funding for the agency.

Responding to issues raised at the meeting, the Clerk of the House, Mrs Patricia Anasi, who represented the Speaker, Francis Nwifuru, maintained that the state House of Assembly does not propose budgets, but can only beef up allocation where necessary.

While she urged the stakeholders to shift all the problems listed to the Ministry of Health whose duty it is to capture them in its proposals, she promised to ensure the engagement of civil society organizations and other relevant NGOs in the 2022 budget public hearing.

In an opening remark, the Executive Director of DIG Foundation, Mr. Oliver Chima, explained that the objective of the meeting was to introduce the Advocacy and Accountability Project by DIG as USAID IHP sub-grantee, to participants; discuss issues around health financing and citizens engagement as well as advocate for legislative members to prioritize primary health care in the budget, including issues of human resources.

The events were also attended by DIG partner CSOs, town union executives, local government health Administrative Secretaries, the Media, among others.