Kano State Community of Practice Push for Improved Health Budget Releases, Transparency.
Kano State Community of Practice CoP have intensified calls for improved funding and transparency in the health sector, following a high-level advocacy meeting between the key government officials.
The engagement, led by CoP Chairman Salisu Yusif alongside partners,with the Director of Disease Control of State Primary Health Care Management Board, Dr. Tijjani Habeeb, and the Programme Manager of SERRIC.
The meeting focused on the dissemination of findings from the 2025 Health and Immunization Budget Tracking exercise conducted by the CoP and its partners, highlighting gaps affecting service delivery across the state.
Participants reviewed key issues identified during the tracking exercise, including delays in fund releases, low budget allocations to the health sector, and weak coordination among relevant agencies.
As part of the advocacy, the group presented clear demands to the government, urging timely and full cash releases to the health sector and the State Primary Health Care Management Board, and immunization programmes to enhance service delivery.
They also called for predictable and complete annual Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) contributions to strengthen immunization financing and sustainability across Kano State.
Salisu Yusif also emphasized the need to increase the proportion of the state budget allocated to health in line with national and global benchmarks, as well as improve transparency through the quarterly publication of budget releases and partner contributions.
CoP further stressed the importance of strengthening coordination among Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure that budget releases align with programme needs and the system’s capacity to utilize funds effectively.
In his remark Dr. Tijjani Habeeb commended the Community of Practice for its consistent engagement with the board on immunization and health financing issues, noting that their efforts in tracking and advocacy are critical to improving service delivery.
“We appreciate the work of the Community of Practice. They have been engaging with us on immunization and health budget tracking, but we must admit that more needs to be done to meet the required standards,” he said.
He acknowledged that despite increased attention to the health sector, gaps remain, particularly in the capacity of programme officers to develop convincing funding memos, stressing the need for targeted capacity building.
Dr. Habeeb also raised concerns over delays in the release of Routine Immunization (RI) funds, describing the pattern of releases in the second and fourth quarters as alarming.
“If possible, RI funds should have a standing order without delay. What we saw in Quarter Two and Quarter Four shows significant delays. Regular quarterly reviews are necessary to track the status of releases,” he added.
Dr Habib assured their commitment and the board’s full support toward achieving improved health financing and programme implementation in the state and budgetary provisions translate into improved health outcomes for residents of Kano State.
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