PERL calls for multisectoral approach to improve citizens’ health
By: Femi Mustapha
United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Governance programmePartnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), has pointed out that improving health outcome of citizens requires a multisectoral approach.
The Kaduna State Partnership Facilitator PERL, Mr Adejor Abel asserted this during a one-day health budget performance analysis to sustain advocacy for improved 2022 budget releases.
Abel pointed out that the other sectors like water, sanitation and hygiene, social protection, local governance, environment in one way of the other affect the health outcome of citizens and general wellbeing of the people.
He stressed the need to synergies and leverage on the potential of other accountability mechanisms to ensure the delivery of quality health services in the state.
He identified the mechanisms as Kaduna Social Protection Accountability Coalition, Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, Local Government Accountability Mechanism (LGAM), Network of Civil Society for Environment and Society for Water and Sanitation.
He said that the meeting was expanded to cover other accountability mechanisms to be able to triangulate and synergy strategies to improve the delivery of quality health services in Kaduna State
According to him, the meeting is organised conduct a three-year budget performance trend analysis of the health sector and use the outcomes to advocate for increase health budget releases.
“The meeting was also organised to sustain the advocacy towards influencing health sector spending and priorities of the sector.
“The meeting was also to mobilise for sustained advocacy towards influencing local government budget releases.”
At the meeting, participants agreed to advocate to the Planning and Budget Commission to demand for budget performance review to determine the gap between expenditure and expected results.
They also agreed to advocate to the Ministry of Finance and Liquidity Committee to push for timely release of allocated funds to relevant ministries, departments, and agencies.
The accountability mechanism also agreed to advocate to the relevant committees of the State Assembly to push for timely release of budgetary allocations to MDAs performing 50 per cent.
In his remarks, the Secretary Advocacy Committee of the Kaduna Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM), Yusaha’u Abubakar, urged the State Government to ensure timely release of allocated funds to the health sector to improve service delivery.
