In a move to mitigate the impact of the US government’s suspension of health aid, the National Assembly, on Thursday, increased the country’s health budget by N300 billion.
This development comes after the US government suspended its foreign aid, affecting several health initiatives in Nigeria.
In the previously proposed 2025 budget, the federal government allocated N2.48 trillion to the health sector, representing 5.18 percent of the total appropriation.
The additional funds will support health interventions and address challenges “such as tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, and polio.”
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According to Adeola Olamilekan, chairman of the joint appropriation committee, “It is to be noted that the recent action by the United States government to suspend further intervention in the Nigerian health sector… will have adverse effects on Nigerians affected by such diseases.”
He added that the “President has proactively made a new provision of $200 million, equivalent to N300 billion,” to address the health challenges ¹.
Nigeria has consistently fallen short of the Abuja Declaration’s requirement to allocate at least 15% of its annual budget to the health sector.
The increased health budget is part of the approved 2025 budget, which has been raised from N54.2 trillion to N54.9 trillion.
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