Experts Want Budget Lines For Health Security

The need to establish budget lines for health security at the grassroots in Lagos State has been stressed.
Participants at a roundtable  discussion on “Improving Financing for Health Security at the Grassroot Levels in Lagos State”  lamented the absence of a budget line for Epidemic Preparedness and Response, EPR, in the State.
The roundtable  was put together at the instance of the  Legislative Advocacy Initiative for Sustainable Development, LISDEL, in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Local Government & Community Affairs, with  support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, GHAI.
Budget Officers of the Local Government Areas and the Local Community Development Areas of the state,  were able to have deeper understanding on the need for EPR at the LGA/LCDA level, and to raise the accountability bar for EPR funding in the Year 2022 LG health budget in the face of health security threat that has come to stay.
Noting that the absence of a dedicated budget line for EPR in the State was a major gap, the State Coordinator for LISDEL, Tina Obinna-Anikpe, said epidemic preparedness and respose should emanate from the local government level.
In her presentation titled: “Overview of the Health Security Landscape and PE project in Lagos State”, Obinna-Anikpe, observed that in line with the National Action Plan on Health Security, the local government as the third tier of government that is closest to the people, should have funding in the health budget for EPR in their yearly budget because the local government has its own role to play and some of these roles are based on the currency landscape and gaps in such local governments.
According to her, “So far, no local government has a line item or separate budget for EPR, hence the need for the  workshop to galvanise support and stimulate discussion on how funding from the local government can be achieved in the Lagos State Year 2022 budget.
“This is necessary so that the local government is not just a bystander but an active part of the epidemic preparedness and response especially at the grassroots and community level and to also provide a form of support that would strengthen what the state has already been doing.”
“This roundtable is the first of the efforts to actually see that funding is allocated at the local government.