Stakeholders in the health sector have called on the Taraba Government to prioritise the timely release of health budgetary allocations to key budget lines that aim to promote child health.
They made this call following the recent release of the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) for 2023–2024, which showed no improvement in the child mortality rate.
Malam Aminu Usman, the Programmes Manager of the Maigodiya Center for Youth Development (MCYD), told the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday in Jalingo that more practical actions were needed to tackle the menace.
He noted that steps such as the specific release of health budgetary allocations for essential life-saving commodities for health facilities and for the maternal and prenatal death surveillance and response committees would mitigate child deaths.
“I know that the Taraba Ministry of Health has specific budget lines that aim to address child deaths, but the timely release of funds to these lines has always been a challenge.
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“The recent release of data by the NDHS for 2023–2024, which showed alarming rates of deaths among infants, neonates, and children under five, should be a wake-up call for the government and all stakeholders,” he said.
Usman, who commended Governor Agbu Kefas for increasing the health budgetary allocation in the 2024 budget from 7.8% to 10.5%, urged the government to meet the 15% Abuja Declaration for health budgets in the 2025 budget.
Mrs. Susan Manu, a mother, told the Tribune that although the current Taraba government, in collaboration with partners in the health sector, was doing its best, ensuring timely releases of budgetary allocations would make the interventions more consistent and sustainable.
Tribune recalls that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Bauchi Field Office recently organised a media dialogue in Jos to ignite meaningful conversations about child mortality in Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba states.
The dialogue focused on raising awareness of the root causes of child mortality, its socio-economic and health impacts, and the urgent need for collective action from a broad range of stakeholders.
Dr. David Audu, a UNICEF Health Specialist, charged journalists to consistently report on issues that promote child health for the benefit of all.
He noted that the call had become necessary given that child mortality was a major public health challenge in Nigeria, with approximately 120,000 children under the age of five dying yearly.
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