The Government of Akwa Ibom State has been commended for providing N4.6 billion naira as capital vote for the Akwa Ibom State Primary Health Care Development Agency in the recently enacted 2019 budget.
The commendation was contained in a statement signed by the Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Officer of Policy Alert, Utibe Archibong, and issued in Uyo this morning. She said: “The newly established Akwa Ibom State Primary Healthcare Development Agency is a welcome response to years of advocacy for quality primary health care for the state’s citizens.
“Before now, there was no single agency responsible for managing the state’s primary healthcare sector. Most functions under primary health were handled at multiple levels of government, leading to overlapping roles and unclear mandates and creating room for inefficiency and corruption. This had left the sector in a deplorable state for many years, resulting in undue pressure on secondary and tertiary health facilities and untold suffering for citizens.”
The statement further applauded the budgetary allocation of N4.6 billion for the take-off of the new agency. “It is an indication that government is actually listening” Archibong said, adding: “We call on government to provide the necessary cash backing for this appropriation to demonstrate that it is actually putting its money where its mouth is.”
The statement continued: “Policy Alert and its partners are currently carrying out a situation analysis on the state of the primary healthcare sector in Akwa Ibom State to provide a baseline for engaging with the new Agency. We will track every spending of this N4.6 billion. We are determined as an organization to ensure that every kobo invested in our primary health sector is transparently and accountably spent and translates to a healthier life for our citizens, especially rural dwellers and the poorest of the poor.”
