Nigeria needs to spend N712 billion annually to bridge healthcare financing deficit – BudgIT

Primary Healthcare Centre

Nigeria needs to spend about N712 billion annually to bridge its healthcare financing deficit, a civic technology organization, BudgIT Nigeria says.

BudgIT’s Lead Partner, Oluseun Onigbinde, who made the observation on Thursday, called on the federal government to strengthen primary health care centres to be able to tackle epidemics in the country.

Mr. Onigbinde was speaking in Abuja at the presentation of a report titled Health Financing Analysis in Ebola Affected Countries: The Readiness of Primary Healthcare Centres To Tackle Diseases.

He said budgetary allocation to health should be increased, as Nigeria’s health per capita is relatively low when compared to other African countries.

“If Equatorial Guinea could do $663 per citizen, then Nigeria can improve from $118 to at least $300.

“If the health budget is made to attain at least 15 per cent of the national budget, as declared by the African Union, an additional sum of N712 billion ($1.9 billion) will be needed to give the goal sum of N1.09 trillion ($ 3.03 billion), and Nigeria can achieve more tangible investments in the sector,” he said

Mr. Onigbinde urged state governments to equip PHCs to cater for the needs of citizens in rural areas.

“The federal government should spend more on capital expenditure, as the difference between recurrent and capital is wide. If Nigeria seeks to fund the health sector through borrowing, then transparency and accountability should be adopted.