Abuja — An appeal has been made to the federal government and 53 African Union states to fulfill their obligations the Abuja Declaration in 2001 to increase health funding by at least 15 per cent of their national budgets.
The Executive Vice President, Diagnostics, Africa, at Roche Diagnostics, Dr Allan Pamba, made the appeal as critical issues for discussion at the on going 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 79) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
He lamented that since the declaration 23 years ago, only two countries had fulfilled the pledge as at 2021.
The countries were Cabo Verde (15.75 per cent) and South Africa (15.29 per cent).
He raised the concern as the 2030 deadline for all United Nations member states to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) as part of the Sustainable Development Goals approaches.
"The goal of UHC is to ensure that all people can access the health services they need without suffering financial hardship
"We have just over five years to go and are at a critical stage when investment in health systems in low-to-middle-income countries, many of which are in Africa, is paramount. This includes investments in infrastructure, access to diagnostics and essential medicines, workforce capacity and robust health technologies," Pamba said.
He reminded Nigeria and other African nations to look inward and scrutinise more effective use of currently existing health budgets to deliver more healthcare despite pursuing new funding streams from international organisations.
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He described diagnostics as the bedrock of effective healthcare.
Last year, a resolution by WHO on strengthening diagnostics capacity acknowledged that diagnostics enable early detection, accurate treatment and efficient disease management, leading to improved health outcomes and budget cost-effectiveness.
"It is regrettable that the median availability of diagnostics is only 19 per cent in basic primary care facilities surveyed in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. No surprises there, because currently, only two per cent of healthcare spending is allocated to diagnostics," Pamba said.
He also referred to the recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), report, that highlighted the necessity of targeted investments to withstand future health crises, noting that prioritising preventative care, particularly enhancing disease awareness and diagnostic capacity is key for improving health outcomes and driving economic growth.
While noting that UNGA 79 promises to deliver many eye-opening discussions about achieving the 2030 UHC goal in time, he said
donor funding should be integrated into national health strategies, moving from vertical programmes to more holistic approaches that address multiple health.
