Dr Muhammad-Bashir Yahaya, a medical practitioner, has urged the Federal Government to fulfil its commitment of allocating 15 per cent of the annual budget to health to bridge the funding gap in the psychiatric health sub-sector.
Dr Yahaya, a psychiatric health advocate, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja where he said that psychiatric health care was not getting adequate attention leading to a vacuum in the sub-sector.
According to him, psychiatric health gets far less attention than it requires and that has led to a huge gap in the provision of psychiatric healthcare with few available professionals and fewer facilities for optimal care delivery.
“With an improvement in overall funding of healthcare in the country, psychiatric health can also be further advocated for alongside other aspects of health in the country,’’ he said.
He said a significant step to bridging funding gap in psychiatric health would be to first have the government adhere to “The Abuja Declaration’’.
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“The Abuja Declaration recommended that all countries in Africa should allot at least 15 per cent of their annual budgets to health.
Heads of State and Governments of member countries of the African Union in 2001 made the “Abuja Declaration”, in which the leaders pledged to commit at least 15 per cent of their annual budgets to improve health care delivery in their countries.
NAN reports that the increase in the 2021 budget allocation to the health sector still fell below the Federal Government’s pledge to commit at least 15 per cent of the nation’s annual budgets to improving the health sector.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Oct. 8 presented N13.8 trillion as 2021 budget estimate to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The proposed allocation to the health sector in the budget is N512. 21 billion for both current and capital expenditures, and N35 billion for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF),
The figure represents a 157 per cent increase in capital allocation to the health sector in the 2021 budget estimate compared to N46 billion and N25.5 billion allocated to the health ministry and BHCPF in the 2020 budget.
Dr. Yahaya also told NAN that donations to psychiatric healthcare by individuals and corporate bodies could also supplement its funding needs.
“Having more robust health insurance coverage for all citizens of the country that would adequately cover mental health is also needed.
“This is needed to ensure that people can access psychiatric healthcare where necessary without the delays associated with paying out-of-pocket expenses,’’ he said.