The Kaduna Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM), has commended the Federal Government for the planned equipping of existing hospitals and rehabilitation of infrastructure as provided for in its 2023 budget proposals.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday presented the 2023 budget proposals of N20.5 trillion to the Joint Session of the National Assembly in Abuja.
Buhari explained that in the health sector, the Federal Government would focus on equipping existing hospitals, rehabilitating infrastructure, and lay emphasis on local production of basic medicines and vaccines.
“As human capital is the most critical resource for national development, our overall policy thrust is to expand our investment in education, health and social protection,” Buhari said.
Mr Mustapha Jumare, Citizens’ Co-chair of the accountability group advocating for improved delivery of maternal and child health services in Kaduna State, said that the move would improve the health outcomes of women and children.
Jumare, who made the commendation in an interview News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Friday, however, called on the Federal Government to equally pay attention to human resources for health.
According to him, ”equipping the hospitals is good, but it is as good as nothing without the needed human resources to provide the services.
“Human resources are equally key to achieving the desired results in terms of the provision of quality health services.
“We need to have enough staff in health facilities side by side with the equipment and rehabilitation of the health facilities.”
Jumare called for increased budgetary allocations to address the human resources gap in line with the minimum standard package of health services in primary, secondary and tertiary facilities.