Stakeholders have called for improved implementation, tracking and accountability of health sector budgets to strengthen healthcare delivery and advance Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Kaduna State.

They made the call during an engagement on strengthening participatory budget processes, health budget tracking and advocacy on Saturday in Kaduna, with emphasis on the 2027 budget process and implementation of the Annual Operational Plan (AOP) for the health sector.

Seth Luke, a civil society coach on strengthening participatory budget processes under the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Kaduna, said the engagement was aimed at strengthening the capacity of OGP Technical Working Groups and state and local government accountability mechanisms to effectively participate in budget processes and advocacy.

Mr Seth said the engagement was particularly focused on the health sector, including tracking the implementation of the Annual Operational Plan as the state commenced preparations for the 2027 budget.

“We want to see how we can track the implementation of the Annual Operational Plan for the health sector and, from our findings, bring out recommendations around improving funding and other areas that require attention,” he said.

He said the government needed to prioritise health financing beyond budgetary allocations by ensuring effective implementation of approved programmes and projects.

According to him, budget allocation represents government plans based on expected revenue, but available resources should be prioritised towards activities capable of improving healthcare and service delivery at the grassroots.

Mr Seth urged participants to use the knowledge and findings from the engagement to engage relevant government stakeholders on improving health financing and budget implementation.

He also encouraged them to extend the knowledge gained to other sectors and continuously engage the government on budgeting, accountability and service delivery.

Similarly, Garba Mohammed, co-chair of the Kaduna Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM), said the engagement was aimed at reviewing health budget performance against key indicators linked to maternal mortality reduction and child survival.

Mt Mohammed said participants examined first- and second-quarter performance, particularly in areas such as family planning, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCAH), nutrition, malaria, immunisation and essential medicines.

He said family planning interventions largely involved commodities at the primary healthcare level, while MNCAH activities remained largely donor-dependent.

Mr Mohammed commended the Kaduna State government for meeting the Abuja Declaration benchmark of allocating at least 15 per cent of its annual budget to health.

He, however, expressed concern over gaps in the implementation of some critical health budget lines, stressing that allocation alone was not enough to improve health outcomes.

“We have looked at the budget allocation, and Kaduna State has met the 15 per cent Abuja Declaration benchmark. We commend the state for that. However, there are still issues around budget performance in critical health indicators,” he said.

He said the findings would be used to identify advocacy priorities and engage key government decision-makers, including the ministry of health, planning and budget commission, ministry of finance and other relevant authorities.

Mr Mohammed said participants were expected to understand the relevant health budget lines and their implementation status and use the knowledge to undertake evidence-based advocacy in their respective organisations.

Meanwhile, Yusuf Guje, executive director, Civic Impact for Sustainable Development Foundation (CISDF), and a participant at the programme, told journalists that the engagement was timely in strengthening the capacity of civil society and accountability mechanisms.

Mr Guje said the programme would deepen participants’ capacity in budget tracking, project monitoring and social auditing, particularly within the health sector.

He described the health sector as a critical pillar of development, saying civil society organisations had an important role to play in complementing government efforts through effective monitoring and accountability.

He said CSOs needed to strengthen their ability to analyse budgets, track expenditure and visit healthcare facilities to determine whether appropriated and released funds were being properly utilised.

“Civil society needs to really improve on how effectively we analyse the budget, how we track the spending, and go down to the various facilities to see how well the money appropriated and released is being utilised,” Mr Guje said.

He said effective monitoring would help determine the extent to which communities benefited from government investments in healthcare.

According to him, Kaduna State’s commitment to Universal Health Coverage could only be strengthened through sustainable health financing and effective accountability mechanisms.

Mr Guje described CSOs as representatives of communities that often lacked the knowledge, skills and platforms required to engage the government on public policies and resource allocation.

He, therefore, urged civil society actors to continuously strengthen their capacity to represent citizens effectively, particularly in health financing advocacy and accountability.

“As civil society, we need to remain committed to holding government accountable where necessary and tracking the entire health financing process,” he said.

Mr Guje said the ultimate objective of budget tracking and social accountability was to ensure value for money in public expenditure on health.

He added that effective monitoring of public finances would contribute to improved healthcare delivery and better health outcomes at the grassroots.

(NAN)