EU, UNICEF, WHO, Others Seek Govt Commitment in Health, Education
By Alex Uangbaoje, Birnin Kebbi
The European Union (EU), ECOWAS, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Tuesday urged the Kebbi State Government to scale-up its budget allocated to Health and Education sectors in order to build a befitting future for the Youths and reduce the maternal mortality in the state.
Speaking during an interactive session with the state government and other stakeholders in the health sector in Birnin Kebbi; a meeting aimed at assessing the performance of the government intervention in the state, Minister Counselor and the head of cooperation of EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS Mr. Kurt Cornelis, said increasing the budget will go a long way in reducing challenges in the sectors.
Mr. Kurt who was on assessment tour alongside other donor agencies and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Abuja commended the effort of the kebbi state government for utilizing the intervention money given to them by the EU. Adding, “l urge them to do more by improving on the commitment towards achieving the same goals.”
In his remark, the representative of the WHO and the head of RMNCH cluster Dr. Andrew L. Mbewe, said they are in kebbi state to see how far the state has gone on the implementation of the funds released to them.
He also explained further that WHO has being on the assistance to kebbi state government most especially on the areas of malaria, nutrition, polio and other related health cases which had show a good positive results.
Also, the Chief of Health, UNICEF Nigeria, Dr. Sanjana Bhardwaj also Commended the state government for utilizing the funds given to them on health sectors adding that they are ready to partner with kebbi state as they have achieved a lot on the healthcare system.
Also in her speech, the representative of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and Director Department of Community Health Services Abuja Dr. Nneka U. Onwu also assured the state government of the federal and EU support on health and other institutions in the state. He Urged the State government to review the issue of man power, “the only challenges I saw was lack of staff which is the one of the key factors on health” she added.
Responding, the Kebbi State Governor who was represented by the Commissioner for Health Alhaji Umar Kambaza thank the EU for their support. He assured them of more commitments on the health sector in the state.
