Adedapo Adesanya
Almost 22 years after the World Health Organization (WHO) pledged to set a target of allocating at least 15% of its annual budget to improving the health sector, Nigeria still has a long way to go. Declared far away.
In April 2001, African Union leaders met in Abuja and pledged to set a goal of allocating at least 15% of their budgets to the health sector.
To mark World Health Day, which marks the 75th anniversary of the WHO this year, the Abuja Declaration on Improving the Health Sector has been revisited, leaving many setbacks.
April 7th is designated by the United Nations as World Health Day, and this year’s theme is: Health for All – Strengthening primary health care to build resilient systems.
Regarding the declaration made by the Olusegun Obasanjo government at the time, Dr Walter Mulombo, WHO’s representative for Nigeria, explained that even after the change of government, “today, we are far from achieving our goals”.
Dr. Murombo said the medical sector is underfunded compared to areas such as defense and the military, and advocated for more funding to the medical sector to achieve this goal. .
According to him, health is a human right, not a luxury or expendable item. The politically wise decisions that the country makes now will benefit this country.
“We need to start talking about human rights violations because it is unacceptable for children not to be vaccinated,” he said.
He said some areas accessed by the organization showed that 80% of the money was sent to tertiary hospitals.
Primary health care, he said, is where 80% of a community’s population first receives medical services.
“Spending itself is distorted. This is the biggest challenge that has created everything we have seen.
“For example, many places have to struggle because they do not have enough budget to prepare for the pandemic response,” he said.
A major challenge, he said, is the way health is presented as a political choice, and unfortunately many governments do not live up to the norm.
“While many countries continue to view health as a luxury or at the expense of governments, health should have been seen as an enabling factor for economic and socioeconomic development.
He said he was concerned about how countries would address factors such as social determinants of health, socioeconomic status, education, neighborhood and physical environment, employment, social support networks and access to health care. rice field.
According to him, addressing the social determinants of health is critical to improving health and reducing long-standing disparities in health and healthcare.
Dr. Murombo further advocated for more facilities with dialysis machines and more expensive equipment to combat non-communicable diseases, which are part of the organization’s agenda.
He said the organization was also facing demographic transition challenges, as the facilities used during the colonial period are the same in Africa, but it is possible that the same was the case in Nigeria.
“Nigeria’s population is projected to exceed 400 million by 2040, 2050 as the country is not spending in the field of demographic transition and the population is growing,” he said. I was.
Dr. Murombo said there is also the question of how counties prepare to respond to the pandemic outbreak.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic was unexpected and has wreaked havoc in many counties.
“Health authorities are still anticipating an influenza pandemic and are preparing for it.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, no country was prepared, not even the United States or the United Kingdom, but we have the International Health Regulations and the Global Health Security Agenda.
“The way we prepare is a challenge, another is demographic change and the civilization of disease, the prominence of non-communicable diseases, and how our health facilities are prepared to face these challenges. I haven’t been able to.
The International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 is a legally binding agreement of 196 countries to build capabilities to detect and report potential public health emergencies around the world.
All countries must have the capacity to detect, assess, report and respond to public health events.
The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) is a global effort to strengthen the world’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats.
Communities, he said, need to play a role in identifying their needs and providing services to address their challenges.
