Will Nigeria achieve SDG 3?

In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” is one that will resonate well with most Nigerians considering our dismal health statistics.  Indeed in 2015, using “Health Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE)” as the indicator, the World […]

In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” is one that will resonate well with most Nigerians considering our dismal health statistics. 

Indeed in 2015, using “Health Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE)” as the indicator, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked Nigeria 177 out of 183 countries. In an equally sobering study that assessed 33 health related SDG3 indicators in 188 countries across 25 years, Nigeria was ranked 163. The study was published in the prestigious medical journal “the Lancet” in October 2016.

As far back as 2001, Nigeria along with other Africa Union member countries agreed to set a target of allocating a minimum of 15% of the annual national budget to the health sector. Nigeria never came close to achieving this target to the detriment of the health of the citizens. The average allocation to health as a  percentage of the total federal government budget for the period 2006 to 2016 was 5.3%. If that was not bad enough, the allocation in the 2017 budget of a miserly N304 billion out of the total federal budget of N7.3 trillion translates to 4.17%, that is even less than the average for the period 2006 to 2016. It is indeed sad.

I was equally alarmed to find out that the N51.32 billion budgeted for capital expenditure in the 2017 health budget is almost the same amount as the N51.17 billion allocated as capital expenditure in the 2007 budget! By the time the fall in the value of the Naira is considered, the capital expenditure allocation in 2017 budget has actually declined by more than 40% in dollar terms compared to ten years earlier.  This cannot be allowed to stand. 

Importantly, there are also strong moral considerations for increasing the health budget. With the economy faltering, many families are forced into destitution because they cannot afford basic medical services. Women continue to die needlessly from childbirth. According to the WHO based on 2013 data, the maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births for Nigeria was 560. Children also sadly continue to die from treatable diseases such as malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea. The federal government needs to show more concern for the suffering faced by the citizens. 

Apart from moral considerations, numerous studies have also shown that there is a strong correlation between health and economic growth. A healthy population is a productive one. Furthermore, as the Nigerian population continues to grow unabated, we cannot continue on this trend of declining allocation to the health sector. To put in context, the 2017 health budget translates to only N1,670 per Nigerian! 

Another sad outcome of our continued neglect of the health sector is that we continue to lose our medical professionals to other countries exacerbating our already dire situation. It is a known fact that thousands of Nigerian doctors, nurses and other health professionals now practice in other countries. These professionals are expensive to train and yet we unwittingly push them to leave the country due to the frustration caused by the chronic underfunding of the health sector. Imagine the millions of lives that will be saved if we can retain our medical professionals and attract back those that left?

It is my hope that the federal government would improve  funding for the health sector in the 2017 budget and beyond in order to begin to make a dent in our frightening health statistics. It should also put in place a mechanism in place that will ensure the health budget is increased every year till the 15% it committed to is achieved within the next few years. 

In addition to increasing resources for the sector, appropriate framework should be put in place to ensure transparency and accountability which will guarantee effective utilization of the funds allocated to the health sector.

Failure to act now means Nigerians will continue to suffer pointlessly. And achieving SDG3, universal health coverage as well as health and well-being for all, will unfortunately be just a mirage.