By Ummul Idris
Abuja – Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has urged Federal Government to prioritise
healthcare financing by budgetary allocation.
The President of the association, Dr Francis Faduyile, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said that paying attention to alternative platforms of financing healthcare and showing greater commitment
to proper utilisation of available funds would help to improve the sector.
Faduyile added that healthcare financing remained the solution to functional health system in the country, noting that
government must be proactive to financing the sector.
According to him, government at all levels are not paying adequate attention to healthcare financing with its attendant poor health indices.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the call is coming against the backdrop of President Muhammadu Buhari’s proposal for the 2020 budget.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday received a letter from Buhari on the 2020-2022 Medium Term and Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy.
The proposed expenditure by the administration in the 2020 is N9.79 trillion.
Faduyile called on government to show passion on the health sector “to curtail the exodus of doctors to other countries in the quest for greener pasture.”
(NAN)