As Nigeria continues to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo says it is important that funds are set aside for public health emergencies in the country.
He stated this during the ongoing Fourth Annual Legislative Summit on Health being held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The Vice President said that such funds would only be utilised when a public health emergency is declared.
The summit is themed “Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Health Security; Two sides of a coin for an Efficient Health System.”
Represented by the Minister of State For Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, he said the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of the country’s health system and the importance of preparedness, diagnosis and response mechanism.
He noted that public health security requires proactive and reactive measures to minimize the danger and impact of acute public health events.
“One of such proactive steps was to ensure that there are funds set aside always and which can be made available whenever there was a public health emergency,” he said.
Professor Osinbajo also said that the legislature must ensure that adequate budgetary allocation is made for preparedness activities.
He added that reactive and response activities must include ensuring that the continuity of routine services such as immunization, family planning and keeping insight on other diseases like malaria.
The objective of setting up the Legislative Network is to effectively leverage statutory functions of the Legislature in Nigeria for improved health financing, toward effective and efficient utilization of the resources for UHC.
The Network consists primarily of legislators (National and States) with members of the Executive Arm of Government (State and National) and non-state actors collaborating to provide institutional contexts focused on the health sector.
It is convened annually to provide a platform for Legislators to confer to resolve matters pertaining to the resilience of the health sector to provide equitable, quality care to citizens.
PIAK
