Northern states suffer from fatalities of flooding, yet fail to commit financially to Primary Health Centres
By Aminu Abubakar
Northern Nigeria has been plagued with flooding in recent times, most recently, Borno state recorded flooding that has had a devastating effect leading to deaths and destruction of properties.
Not just Borno, Bauchi state also has suffered from flooding with many Northern Nigeria states not left out from the devastating effect of the floods.
In this report, SolaceBase examines the health preparedness of states to tackle the impact of flooding situations across states.
This report examines the state of the health centres given that in the 2022 flooding many health centres were ravaged, which means that available health centres that could have helped tackle 2022 floods, when neglected worsen access to healthcare for flood victims.
In 2022, 257 health facilities were ravaged in Jigawa.
Already, in 2024, flooding has been responsible for the death of 259 persons across 22 states in the country.
Data from the National Emergency Management Agency shows that thirty-five persons died in Kano and thirty-four in Jigawa.
While the case of the flooding in Borno is exceptional, given that even health centres were submerged, poor health centres equipping in itself may affect adequate capacity to keep fatalities from flooding low.
Review shows that Kano state budgeted N5.1 billion for its Primary Health Sector in the 2024 fiscal year, however, it only spent N88 million in the first six months of 2024 for healthcare needs. This is according to details from the budget performance document of the state.
Zamfara state budgeted the sum of N1.760 billion for the construction/provision of health centres and hospitals in 2024, however as of the first six months of the year, it failed to spend any money.
Repairs of hospitals and health centres stood at N1 billion, however in the first six months of the year, nothing was spent for the same purpose, details on budget performance documents of the state show.
In Kogi state, the capital budget for the Primary Healthcare Development Agency stood at only N451 million with nothing spent in the first six months of the year.
Read Also: SPECIAL REPORT: One year after flood damaged PHCs in Jigawa, govt neglects repairs
In Sokoto, the budget for the Primary Healthcare development agency stood at N8.7 billion, however only 3.5% was spent in the first six months of 2024, with N308.7 million spent.
Only Jigawa state did a sizable budget performance in the first six months of 2024, for its healthcare ministry, with N1.3 billion spent in the first six months of the year from a budget of N7.2 billion.
Nasarawa state also budgeted N1.1 billion for its Primary Healthcare facilities capital need however in the first six months of 2024, it failed to spend any money.
A report noted that twenty-six states in Nigeria do not have at least one functional health Centre per political ward.
Flooding for instance increases the risk of cholera which was widespread throughout the country recently. These victims of cholera usually need medical attention.
Already, experts are worried that if Nigeria prioritizes less access to healthcare, many more Nigerians may be affected by the impact of flooding which leaves many victims fighting for their lives and in dire need of intervention.
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