In the latest Health Preparedness Index (HPI) for all of Nigeria, Lagos and Ogun states have emerged as the top states while the northern states rank at the bottom of the index.
According to the SBM Intelligence report seen by Nairametrics, Lagos State led the index with a score of 25.09 points, followed by Ogun State with 23.23 points.
Lagos’ performance can be attributed to its large health budget allocation and relatively advanced health infrastructure compared to other states.
Ekiti State University showed a remarkable improvement of 23.04 points, jumping from 13th place in 2021 to 3rd place in 2023. Meanwhile, Bayelsa and Ondo scored 22.99 and 22.86 points to break into the top five, moving from 11th to 4th place and from 2nd to 5th place respectively.
Struggles of the Northern States
Meanwhile, northern states continue to suffer from significant health problems. Zamfara, Gombe, Sokoto, Kebbi and Yobe performed the worst with scores ranging from 11.83 to 13.04.
The report blames limited budget allocation, poor infrastructure, high infant mortality rates and low immunization rates. The report notes that “health care delivery in these areas is severely hampered by insecurity and inadequate resources,” leaving health workers in these areas overburdened and under-resourced. He emphasized that there is.
Increasing the medical budget will not improve preparedness
No state in Nigeria scored more than 30 points on this index and all states received an “F” grade. This highlights the critical gap between budget increases and actual improvements in health infrastructure, capacity, and preparedness to respond to emergencies, including pandemics.
Health budgets have improved in recent years, with 30 out of 36 states increasing their health budgets from 2021 to 2023, but the state’s overall health budget allocation in 2023 will be 9.29%, a significant increase from 4.65% in 2021. showed improvement.
“Cross River leads with an impressive 22.1% allocation, followed by Kaduna (15.8%) and Bauchi (15.0%).In stark contrast, Bayelsa (3.4%), Ekiti (2.5%), Ebonyi ( 0.5%) allocated the lowest percentage of their budget to health care.
SBM Intelligence warns that these increases have not translated into measurable improvements in preparedness. But even states that have increased their health budgets have not done enough to address core issues such as inadequate health infrastructure and health workers.
“Despite some improvement in health budget allocation in various states, the overall health situation in Nigeria remains a concern. This is an urgent need for sustained and strategic investment in health infrastructure, human resources and service delivery across all states to strengthen health preparedness across Nigeria. It highlights something.”
From doctors to citizens
One of the most pressing concerns affecting health care delivery in Nigeria is the doctor-to-population ratio. This important indicator has the highest weight in the index at 30 points, highlighting wide disparities in health system preparedness across the country.
The report finds that many states are falling short of recommended standards for health care delivery, resulting in overburdened and under-resourced health care workers and an urgent need for improvement. It is emphasized.
what this means
The findings highlight the importance of not only increasing health budgets, but also ensuring that those funds are used effectively to strengthen health systems. Without addressing core issues such as health infrastructure, health workforce and service delivery, Nigeria’s ability to respond to future health emergencies will remain impaired.
The 2024 Health Preparedness Index by SBM Intelligence serves as a call to action for Nigerian states to rethink their healthcare strategies. The report concludes that while some progress has been made, more needs to be done to ensure the country is prepared for future health challenges.
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