CISLAC calls for increased budgetary allocation to health provisions in line with African Union Standards
A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), has urged the Federal Government to increase budgetary allocation to the health sector.
The Executive Director, CISLAC , Auwal Musa Ibrahim, made this known in a Press Conference to Commemorate the 2016 World Health Day in Abuja .
Auwal who was represented by the Senior Program Officer CISLAC, Mr Okeke Anya said that there was need to improve funding of the sector in the country in order to improve the living standard of Nigerians, especially the aged, children and pregnant women.
According to him, these are the vulnerable set of people that need much attention from the government.
Auwal revealed that with a constant upward progression in the number of people globally affected by diabetes,
"statistics from WHO shown that as at 2008 approximately 347 million people in the world had diabetes with major percentage of this figure coming from low and middle- income countries."
"In 2012, diabetes was the direct cause of approximately 1. 5 million deaths, with more than 80% of these figures again occurring in low and middle income countries."
"Nigeria as the most populous country on the continent has in recent times been faced with numerous public health concerns of which diabetes is just one. Nigeria's recent experience with Lassa fever across parts of the country as well as the outbreak of Ebola in 2014 , has proven that as a country, Nigeria is not immune from such severe and in some instances chronic diseases which occur in our national health life.
"The nation is still made to battle with grave consequences and loss of valuable lives that are being recorded daily from illness such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and AIDS just as the most dreaded cancer is a nightmare to all" he added.
He urged government and Nigerians to remain vigilant to broad health concerns such as cancer, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and related ailments like tobacco consumption seeing these as risk factors with regards to our general public health.
Auwal claimed that Nigeria spent about 800 million dollars on foreign medical cases yearly, and said that the money ought to be spent on improving health sector and its services affordable in the country.
He therefore called on the Minister of Health, State Commissioners for Health and Local Government Health Officials not to relent in efforts at improving healthcare delivery.