Prioritise health goals in 2025 budget, Nigerian govt charges agencies, teaching hospitals

As part of the efforts to improve healthcare in Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has urged health agencies and tertiary health institutions to focus on government health priorities.

These, in part, include, improved infrastructure, access to essential care, and effective disease prevention and control in their 2025 budget proposals.

The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Daju Kachollom, said focusing on programmes and projects that ensure the delivery of government health priorities is critical to achieving the vision of the country for the health sector.

Mr Kachollom said this while speaking at a stakeholders’ workshop on 2024 budget performance/bilateral session on 2025 budget preparation with agencies of tertiary health institutions on Wednesday.

The 2024 budget performance/bilateral session on the 2025 budget is a two-day event that kickstarted on Wednesday in Abuja to prepare health agencies and teaching hospitals for their 2025 capital budget allocation.

Directive

Speaking at the workshop, Mr Kachollom called for effective budgeting, while noting that agencies must focus on achieving the goals that align with the President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the 2025 capital budget allocation.

“It is also important to note that in allocating capital budget resources, we must concentrate on projects and programmes that will deliver the government’s priorities,” he said.

He also urged for the proficiency and effective management of the 2025 capital budget allocation, noting that projects and programme costs must be “tightly managed to ensure that people get value for money as envisioned in the mandate of the ministry.”

The permanent secretary said: “It is imperative to advise that during these difficult times, particular attention must be paid towards cost diligence. The objective of this bilateral discussion is to enable us to align strategy with effective budgeting towards the delivery of the health sector mandate and to carefully scrutinise and justify your projects and programmes for which resources are to be allocated.

“This is in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President for repositioning of the Health Sector as well as government’s development priorities as set out in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025.”

Importance of proper budgeting

On her part, the ministry’s Director of Finance and Account, Bakre Modupe, said proper budgeting is crucial to improving the health system.

According to her, budgeting is an important government step as it gives “room to plan and know the resources to allocate to programmes and projects.”

Mrs Modupe said the workshop was organised due to the recognised importance of budget and also to assess the performance of the health sector in 2024.

She urged for more work and increased effort specifically towards achieving the goal of the current administration and improving the country’s health indices and system.

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She said: “The purpose of the meeting is to assess the ministry’s performance in the health sector for the year 2024 and look at how we will forge ahead better for the health sector.

“Yes, we may not be there 100 per cent but we are working towards being there, and that is the essence of this so that we will be able to put together our thoughts, our needs; where we have gone wrong, we amend.”