By PHILIP YATAI

The citizens of Kaduna State said on Saturday that the N579.2 allocated for the procurement of drugs and other consumables by the Kaduna State Government in the 2021 draft budget was grossly inadequate.

Mr Mustapha Jumare, the Cor-Chair, Open Government Partnership (OGP) spoke on behalf of the citizens during a virtual 2021 Draft Budget Townhall Meeting, with the theme, “Budget of Recovery”.

Jumare thanked the state government for proposing to spend 15 per cent of its total budget on health, describing it as “commendable”

According to him, the allocation will go a long way in achieving universal health coverage in the state.

He, however, pointed out that the N579.2 million allocated to the state’s Health Supplies Management Agency (KADHSMA) was grossly inadequate to meet the drugs and consumables needs of the health sector.

“The authority is expected to procure drugs and consumables for family planning, malaria, tuberculosis, among others. Family planning alone will gulp all the funds.

“We therefore urge the state government to increase the budget to four billion naira so as to adequately provide the needed drugs and consumables in hospitals,” he said.

He also said that the six million naira allocated as overhead cost for the Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority (KACHMA) was inadequate to address the poor citizens enrollment in the scheme.

“We therefore urged the state government to increase the overhead allocation to KACHMA,” he said.

Responding, Mr Hamza Abubakar, Executive Secretary, Kaduna State Primary Health Care Development Board, acknowledged the funding gap in KADHSMA in the budget.

Abubakar, however, said that external funding streams like the Basic Healthcare Provision Funds, Contributory Health Scheme, and other budget line items Ministries, Department and Agencies would be utilised in the procurement of drugs and commodities.

on his part, the Commissioner for Planning and Budget Commission, Mr Thomas Gyang, said that funding for malaria control was provided for in the draft budget.

Gyang had explained that the state proposed to spend N237.5 billion in 2021 fiscal year, out of which N157.6 billion was earmarked for capital projects while N79.96 billion was allocated for recurrent expenditure. (NAN)

Update news