The Finance and Accounts department of the Federal Ministry of Health has organised a 2-day workshop for Chief Executives and Heads of Accounts in the Health sector.
The workshop which started on Thursday, March 23, 2023 in Abuja was aimed at training staff of the ministry on the implementation of 2023 health budget implementation.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Mahmood Mamman who was represented by the Director of Health Planning Research and Statistics, Dr. Ngozi Azodo, said that the training was to keep participants abreast on the implementation of Presidential Executive Order 12 of 2022.
Azodo explained that there had been “improvement in the year 2022 capital budget of the health sector which was 207, 392,943,865 naira only, but in 2023, the capital budget provided 445,161, 366,115 naira only. This is a different of 237 billion, which is clearly 100% above what it was last year.
“That is very key and commendable. For overhead, last year we had 12 billion. In 2023 we have 16 billion.
“For personnel cost, in 2022, we have 494 billion and in 2023 we have 614 billion, again the difference of 119 billion. So we have a total of 241 billion additional financing to the health sector between 2022 and 2023, it’s our prayer that all that money is released.
“It becomes important for us to improve, take steps to ensure that when these monies are released, that protocols are implemented to ensure that the highest level of efficiency is achieved, and the federal government allocation to the health sector within the last two years shows an appreciable increase”.
Azodo further explained that Executive Order 12 which was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2022 was aimed at improving performance management, coordination and implementation of presidential priorities of the federal government of Nigeria
“This executive order established several platform such as establishment of the Central Delivery Coordination unit, situated in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation”.
Azodo therefore, said, the essence of the training was to ensure that government get maximum benefit from these increases in money allocated to the health sector.
On what to expect from the participants after the workshop, Azodo said, “We expect that at the end of the workshop, participants will be abreast of all the existing regulations and what that means for them and how they can use it in their everyday work to improve performance and also to ensure better health outcomes.”
Similarly, the Director of Hospital Services, Dr. Salma Ibrahim Anas also maintained that in the past few years, the ministry had witnessed a very good turnout and timely submission of budget.
“We are meeting the timelines and our people are getting their budget in very good times and implementation also happens within the specified time”, she said.
