promise to address health crises
and drastically improve the
country’s health systems
Everyday 2000 Nigerian children
and 158 women die because of poor
access to basic healthcare
National Health Act could save the
lives of over 3 million mothers,
newborns and children under-5 by
2022 if fully implemented
Campaign launched on 15th
anniversary of Abuja Declaration
A coalition of civil society organisations
has launched a campaign to amplify
Nigerian citizens’ demands that the
government fulfil its promises and save
the health system by funding the 2014
National Health Act and by allocating
15% of the national budget to health.
Anti-poverty organisation ONE and its
partners, including Nigeria Health Watch,
the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria,
Africa-Dev, the Women Advocates
Research and Documentation Centre and
the Centre for the Right to Health are
calling for improved access to lifesaving
health services for all Nigerians.
15 years ago today, all African
governments made a commitment in
Abuja to increase health spending to 15%
of their national budget. To address the
health crises Nigeria is facing, the
coalition today launched a new public
health campaign, calling on the Nigerian
government to keep the promise to
increase funding for health care.
Successive governments have failed to
deliver on the Abuja commitment and
Nigerians – particularly women and
children – continue to die from treatable
and preventable diseases.
The historic Abuja declaration has never
been met by Nigerian policy-makers –
only 4.37% is allocated to health in the
2016 Appropriation Bill – and the recent
National Health Act has not yet been
funded nor fully implemented.
“We are all hopeful for change,” says Dr
Chikwe Ihekweazu of NHW. “But as
responsible citizens, we must learn how
to hold our governments accountable for
the promised change.”
Fulfilling the Abuja promise will make a
difference for millions of Nigerians who
die needlessly from lack of access to
basic healthcare.
“It’s hard to imagine that in our beautiful
country, millions of Nigerians from Lagos
to Wawa, from Sokoto to Yola, die
preventable deaths every year because
of poor investment in the health sector”
says Waje, top Nigerian recording artist
and ONE’s Strong Girl campaign activist.
I am asking all Nigerians to join us in
calling the implementation of these life-
saving plans and promises, starting with
the 2017 budget. This is not beyond
Nigeria, I know it is doable and we need
to support government in rolling out
those plans”.
Despite being Africa’s biggest economy,
Nigeria spends relatively little on the
health of its citizens and is facing both a
health and a nutrition crisis, as women
and children continue to die from
treatable and preventable diseases.
Nigeria’s health expenditure puts it in the
bottom third of the ranking of countries
in sub-Saharan Africa. Out of 49 lower-
middle income countries, only seven
country governments spend less per
capita than Nigeria does on health. In
2014 this figure stood at $55 per person
– $31 dollars short of the minimum
expenditure required to ensure proper
health services
If fully implemented, the National Health
Act could save the lives of over 3 million
mothers, newborns and children under-5
by 2022.
“Nigeria has a large rural population and
many of these people are impoverished.
The Nigerian government owes welfare
to her citizens especially in the area of
health care delivery services,” says Dr
Nkem Onyejizu, ONE Champion working
in Kano state.
“It is also not news that there are also
wide regional disparities in child health
indicators in the North East and North
West geopolitical zones of the country
which have the worst child survival
indices,” added Dr Onyejizu. “We laud
the Nigerian government plan to build
10,000 PHCs across the country, but
these must well planned, mapped and
staffed to ensure success as well as
development of a comprehensive
community health insurance scheme.”
President Buhari and the Minister of
Health last year reaffirmed their
commitment to prioritising healthcare by
agreeing to pursue the new Sustainable
Development Goals. These goals present
an opportunity for government to
translate their commitment into time-
bound and measurable outcomes to
dramatically cut avoidable deaths of
mothers, children and the marginalised.
Now is the time for increased
implementation of these important
commitments.
“We urge President Buhari to keep his
promise to increase the quantity and
quality of funding to implement the
National Health Act, and ensure all
Nigeria’s children not only survive, but
thrive,” says Mwambu Wanendeya, Africa
Executive Director of the ONE Campaign.
Reform Foundation of Nigeria, Afri-Dev,
WARDC and partners are calling on the
Government of Nigeria to:
Provide additional funding of 1% of
CRF promised for the Basic Care
Provision Fund within the National
Health Act and to do so within the
2017 budget and to set a timetable
to achieve the Abuja Declaration
commitment to allocate at least
15% of the annual budget to health
by the end of the term of this
government in 2019.
Fund the implementation of the
National Health Act starting in the
2017 budget and improve the
implementation rate of allocated
budgets to at least 80% by 2017.
Allocate dedicated resources to
benefit all Nigerian women and
girls, particularly in the poorest and
the most vulnerable areas.
Increase transparency in the
budget, and particularly in public
health procurement processes by
disclosing all procurement
documents including signed
contracts, bids analysis and names
as well as award decisions and
justifications. There must also be
an improvement in the quality and
quantity of data in health and
poverty monitoring to measure
health outcomes.
Ensure that states allocate the 15%
to the health budget and data is
made available on health budgets
allocated and implemented at both
the state and federal levels to
facilitate accountability to citizens.
Step up funding for nutrition in the
2017 budget in line with the national
nutrition strategy.
Key elements of the campaign includes:
Digital creative assets for online
mobilization of citizens.
6 Nigerian music celebrities are
supporting the campaign including Waje,
D’Banj, Banky W, MI, Omawumi and Yemi
Alade.
Letter writing and direct engagement
with policy makers in the lead up to the
2017 budget formulation.
Dissemination of ONE’s report on federal
expenditure on health in Nigeria to policy
makers and stakeholders.
The petitions signed by Nigerian citizens
will be delivered to policy makers at
strategic moments leading up to the
budget making process.
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