The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has inaugurated 26 eminent Nigerians as national advocates for health.
Speaking while inaugurating them during a review meeting in Abuja on Thursday, the minister called on the advocates to help change the narrative on health at different levels within the country.
He enjoined the advocates to use their influence and networks to advocate for improved health service delivery in Nigeria particularly at the grassroots.
He promised federal government’s commitment towards improved, refurbished and repositioned healthcare system that will accommodate issues of family planning.
The Minister decried the looming population as a disaster in waiting and therefore called for collective advocacy towards population control.
“We cannot allow our population to double in 2020 as I fear its explosion which will lead to more problems. Demographic dividends should be the expectation instead of demographic disasters,” he stated.
The advocates are a group of eminent Nigerians identified and trained by the Federal Ministry of Health and Health Policy Plus (HP+) project which is funded by USAID and implemented by a consortium led by Palladium on relevant knowledge and skills in April 2017 to engage key stakeholders in the public and private sectors towards improving access to quality, affordable and safe family planning services in Nigeria.
The advocates called for improved funding to increase access to family planning in the country.
They said it was important to improve funding to ensure birth spacing, access to family planning commodities and to reduce maternal and child deaths.
The HP+ project has been implemented in three states in 2017, namely, Sokoto, Bauchi and Ebonyi.
The stakeholders include: Prof. Oladapo Ladipo, president of the Association for Family and Reproductive Health, Dr Ibrahim Wada, Dr. Aminu Magashi Garba, of the Community Health and Research Initiative, Chief Executive, Garki Hospital, Dr Aminu Magashi, President Board of Trustees of Community Health and Research Initiative, Anthonia Omowole, National President, Nigeria Association of Women’s Journalist (NAWOJ), Mrs. Moji Makanjuola, Halima Yalwa Adamu, the first female doctor from northern Nigeria, among others.
Prof. Oladapo said the group has been working at the national and states level for about six months before their official inauguration by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole today.
He said: “Over the years we have observed that there has been decline in the percentage of budget allocated to the health sector. We have not been able to achieve the 15 percent Abuja Declaration. For 2018 budget, we have only about 3.95 percent of the GDP for the health sector which is a drop in the ocean.
“Secondly, we have not seen the implementation of the National Health Act that stipulates that one percent annual budget should go to the health sector to meet with the primary healthcare needs and other related health care infrastructure.”
