Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project, (SERAP) has called out Minister of Health, Professor
Isaac Adewole over poor management and facilities in Nigerian hospitals.
SERAP in a statement signed by
its Deputy Director, Timothy Adewale urged Adewole to provide information about
the actual spending of allocations to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital,
(LUTH) Idi Araba and other 20 federal teaching hospitals and 20 federal medical
centres across the country, for the period covering 2010 to 2017.
The letter reads, “The
information should include details of spending on specific projects and
facilities at LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres under the
direct control of the Ministry of Health. We would be grateful if the
information is provided to us within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication
of this letter, failing which SERAP shall take appropriate legal action to
compel you to comply with our request.
“Despite huge budgetary
allocations, many of the teaching hospitals and medical centres under the
direct control of your Ministry have been left to fall apart and health care
facilities in many of these hospitals lack even the most basic of amenities.
Ordinary Nigerians have derived appallingly little benefit from all of the
allocations, in terms of access to basic healthcare, showing a failure to
respect and ensure the right to health and human dignity in the country.
“We need a ‘paradigm shift’ and little
short of a ‘healthcare revolution’ in the country to end decades of
mismanagement, corruption and neglect in the health sector and to improve
access of millions of Nigerians to adequate healthcare and treatment. The
status quo is simply unacceptable. Ensuring transparency in the spending of
allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres would
contribute hugely to charting a way forward in this regard.
“As trustee of public funds, your
Ministry has a legal duty to render account on the specific details of spending
of capital allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres
under the direct control of the Ministry to the beneficiaries (Nigerians) of
the trust, if and when called upon to do so.Any failure or refusal to render
account will also be clearly inconsistent with the attitude of a government
that has repeatedly expressed commitment to the fight against corruption, and
to transparency and accountability.”
“As a key agency of government,
the Ministry of Health has a sacred duty to ensure that the country’s
allocations to the health sector are used solely to achieve adequate access to
healthcare services for all Nigerians and residents. This implies providing
strong leadership in the efforts to curb public sector corruption,
mismanagement and neglect, and to honour Freedom of Information requests on the
spending of allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical
centres across the country.
“The disclosure of the
information requested will give SERAP and the general public a true picture on
how the allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres
have been spent to improve medical facilities and infrastructure in these
hospitals and medical centres and to facilitate enjoyment of the right to basic
healthcare by all Nigerians, especially the socially and economically
vulnerable sectors of the population.”
“SERAP notes approved capital
allocations since 2010 to your Ministry as follows: N49.99 billion for 2010;
N33.53 billion for 2011; N57.01 billion for 2012; N60.08 billion for 2013;
N49.52 billion for 2014; N22.68 billion for 2015; N22.65 billion for 2016; and
N55.61 billion for 2017.”
“According to our information and
latest research, despite approved capital allocations of trillions of naira
over the years to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres under
the direct control of the Ministry of Health, these hospitals have been left to
crumble and wither away and Nigerians have suffered greatly from the decay of these
vital public services.
“Millions of Nigerian children
are believed to die each year before the age of five, and most of those
children lose their lives to diseases that are easily preventable or treatable
at low cost. Nigeria is third highest in infant mortality rate in the world.
“Healthcare services in the
country remain extremely poor. Nigeria is rated 187th out of 191 countries in
terms of healthcare delivery. One-third of more than 700 health facilities in
the country have been destroyed because of many years of corruption,
mismanagement and neglect, and that about 3.7 million people are in need of
healthcare assistance.”
“By virtue of Section 1 (1) of
the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011, SERAP is entitled as of right to
request for or gain access to information, including information on details of
spending of allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical
centres in the country under the direct control of your Ministry, and the said
information is in the custody or possession of any public official, agency or
institution.”
“By virtue of Section 4 (a) of
the FOI Act when a person makes a request for information from a public
official, institution or agency, the public official, institution or urgency to
whom the application is directed is under a binding legal obligation to provide
the applicant with the information requested for, except as otherwise provided
by the Act, within 7 days after the application is received.”
“By Sections 2(3)(d)(V) & (4)
of the FOI Act, there is a binding legal duty to ensure that documents
containing information relating to spending of allocations to LUTH and other
teaching hospitals and medical centres under the direct control of your
Ministry is widely disseminated and made readily available to members of the
public through various means.”
“The information being requested
does not come within the purview of the types of information exempted from
disclosure by the provisions of the FOI Act. The information requested for,
apart from not being exempted from disclosure under the FOI Act, bothers on an
issue of access to healthcare, development, good governance, transparency and
accountability.
“SERAP therefore requests you to
provide detailed information on the spending of allocations to LUTH and other
teaching hospitals and medical centres under the direct control of your
Ministry, for periods covering 2010 to 2017.”
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