‘NIGERIA SPENDS LESS THAN N1, 000 ON INDIVIDUAL’S HEALTH YEARLY’

Nigeria is underfunding health sector spending less than
N1, 000 annually on each citizen’s health and only about four per cent of her
total annual budget earmarked for the health sector.

This is against the minimum of
N5, 000 per head stipulated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and 15 per
cent of total annual budget of a nation for the health sector.

This was disclosed by a Public
Health Physician, Prof. Tanimola Akande, and Chairman Local Organising
Committee (LOC) for the 29th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting
of the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria holding in Ilorin while
briefing journalists.

This, he said informed the
theme, “Reducing Maternal Mortality rate in Nigeria: The Way forward.”

According to him, the
underfunding of the health sector is responsible for high morbidity rate in the
country, adding that people’s behaviours, teenage pregnancies, excessive
bleeding amongst others, are the causes of maternal mortality rate.

He said: “As a nation, Nigeria
is not funding health care sufficiently. The World Health Organisation said
that at least $34 is budgeted per person per year to take care of his health,
that is the minimum and we found that in our own country we are budgeting less
than $8 per person per year.

Source: Blueprint