Kaduna State Lawmakers Are Committed To Improving Health Care Service Delivery

The Kaduna State House of Assembly members expressed their firm commitment to ensuring the State attains Universal Health Coverage (UHC), in a two-day Capacity Building workshop convened by the Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development, (LISDEL) under the “Strengthening Government Partnerships and Advocacy for Primary Health Care Optimization in Nigeria (SPAG) Project” in collaboration with Save the Children International (SCI) and other development partners in the State.

The objectives of the workshop with the theme “Enhancing Salience and Capacity of Kaduna State House of Assembly to Catalyze Kaduna’s Progress towards Universal Health Coverage” was to deepen the understanding of the Kaduna State Legislators on health financing, UHC, Primary Healthcare objectives and policies, as well as to enhance the application of Legislative functions towards the expansion of health financial risk protection mechanisms to target populations, particularly the vulnerable groups in the State.

In attendance at the workshop was the Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, the Honorable Commissioner for Health Kaduna State, who was represented by the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Members of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, the Chairman of the House Committee on Healthcare Services, the Director General Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Agency, Representative of SCI, Civil Society Organizations, and the media.

Honorable Usman Mohammed, the Vice President of LISDEL in his keynote address stated that UHC, Primary Health Care, and Health financing remain critical in strengthening the health architecture of the state. He enjoined the lawmakers to use their statutory functions to enhance health outcomes.

The Deputy Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly who also doubled as the Acting Speaker of the House appreciated LISDEL and Save the Children International for organizing the workshop at this time to deepen their knowledge of health care delivery.

The Honorable Commissioner for Health, Kaduna State, through the Director DPRS and the Director General Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Agency in their separate comments, stated that the health indices of the state have improved tremendously because of the intervention of the lawmakers.

They recommended a Legislative Health Agenda for the next assembly which will guide legislative interventions in the state and Health Insurance laws be made operational in the state.

By LISDEL Team, Kaduna State