For deliberate exclusion of Maternal, Neonatal Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) from 2020 approved budget by Bauchi State government, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the Media under the aegis of Bauchi SAM Network has berated the state government described the situation as unacceptable.
The Coalition which expressed shock and dismay over the exclusion of MNCH components from the State 2020 budget that was signed into law last December opined that the development if left uncorrected will negatively affect the positivity so far recorded in the health sector.
The Coalition further expressed concern over what the exclusion could translate into with regards to the treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in Bauchi State which in recent years has claimed lives of several innocent children who could have been saved had the right steps taken.
While speaking to the Media representatives of the Coalition after a routine assessment visit to a Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) site in Bununu, Tafawa Balewa Local Government of Bauchi State, the Executive Director of ASHH Foundation Bauchi, Comfort Attah, said that the exclusion of the Nutrition budget has the potential of taking Bauchi State backwards in its commitment towards addressing malnutrition challenges facing the state.
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Comfort Attah said: “Here we are, as coalition of CSOs and Media, thinking that we are going to advocate for the establishment of more CMAM centres and OPT sites in the state, but to our greatest dismay, now we are also saddled with additional challenge of budget exclusions as it affects treatment of Malnutrition in Bauchi State.”
Comfort Attah who disclosed that Bauchi State has the highest burden of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in the NorthEast zone, also pointed out that the state has the lowest number of treatment sites compared to other neighbouring states.
“It is of great concern to note that Bauchi State, with one of the highest-burden of SAM in NorthEast, has the lowest number of outpatient treatment(OPT) sites across the state. Our neighbours like Yobe State has 66 OPT sites, Jigawa 65 and Adamawa 45. When you compare with Bauchi State that has only 21 OPT sites, you would agree with our concerns,” Comfort Attah lamented.
Also bearing her mind on the development, representative of the Executive Director of Aid Connect for Development, Mrs Abigail Hardo said that the news of the exclusion of Nutrition budget is the 2020 approved expenditures was a rude shock to the coalition and if not corrected, would further deteriorate the modest gains achieved in overcoming the menace of SAM in Under-5 children in the State.
Abigail Hardo said: “We can’t believe that such an important component of primary healthcare services has been relegated to the point of not being captured in the Bauchi State 2020.”
She added that “With the zeal and commitment so far demonstrated by Governor Bala Mohammed in identifying primary healthcare delivery services as a priority area of the current administration, the exclusion of nutrition budget would definitely cast doubts in the minds of so many stakeholders in the health sector, regarding the sincerity of the administration’s resolve to tackling MNCH challenges in the Bauchi State.”
Abigail Hardo further said that the Coalition will continue to monitor the sad development and hammer on it until it is corrected, as according to her, “the governor may not have been aware that an all-important component in primary healthcare like Nutrition, MNCH Week activities, Childbirth spacing etc have all been excluded in 2020 health budget.”
“We will renew our efforts in advocating for the inclusions of these critical components into the Bauchi State 2020 budget and will keep the public abreast on the development,” Abigail Hardo reiterated.
It will be recalled that last week, while briefing Journalists on primary Healthcare issues in the state for the year 2020, Executive Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (BASPHCDA), Dr Rilwanu Mohammed lamented that Nutrition and other MNCH components have been excluded in the 2020 budget of Bauchi State.
But checks at the State House of Assembly, Ministries of Budget and Economic Planning, as well as that of Finance, revealed that the allocation for MNCHN was not excluded from the budget but was erroneously taken to another sector with the assurance that the abnormally will be corrected very soon.
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