Intern doctors, specialists and nurses plan to go on strike next
financial year should the government reduce the healthcare budget
allocation.
According to fresh details released in Dar es Salaam yesterday by
Sikika, which monitors the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the
government expects to table a budget of 36.2bn/- in the national
assembly today.
The amount is almost half that approved by the national assembly for the ending financial year.
Speaking to journalists yesterday, Sikika Executive Director Irenei
Kiria described the budget ‘a disaster’ for the country’s impending
healthcare challenges.
He said Tanzania’s actual budget for essential medicine and medical
supplies clocks 600bn/-, but stood at 577bn/- during the 2014/15
financial year.
“This means, the 36.2bn/- represents a deficit of over 540.8bn/-,” he said.
Kiria said categorically the government decision would not only
prevent the nation from realising the Big Results Now (BRN) strategy but
affects development efforts in other sectors as well.
He said while the BRN initiative targets 100 percent availability
of medicine and medical supplies by 2019, the plan was unrealistic.
“The government should substantially increase the budget allocation
to ensure that availability of essential medicine and supplies improves
to 80 percent according to the BRN key performance indicators,” Kiria
said.
The Guardian could not verify immediately whether the government
decision to cut donor dependence on development projects had back-up
plans for healthcare.
But the statement issued to media representatives showed that a whopping 36.2bn/- will come from local sources.
Reports say that since 2011 government dependence on donor support
for healthcare has been on a free fall. In that year, the government
expected to get 73.6bn/- from donors while in 2012 it expected 46.5bn/-,
the following year it expected 30bn/- and last year10.5bn/-.
Despite that the government has allocated 70.5bn/- last financial
year of which only 23.5bn/- (about 33.3 percent) was disbursed as of
April this year.
Yesterday Sikika said that while the budget allocation was
123.4bn/- and 80bn/- in 2011 and 2012 respectively, in the same years
the performance was about 60 per cent of target.
“If stock outs were recorded above 50 percent when budget
allocations were at historical highs, it is very likely that existence
of significant stock outs in the 2015-16 financial year were budget
estimates of 36.2bn/,” he said.
Sikika’s Head of Department of Medicine and Supplies, Alice Monyo,
told reporters that it was impressed by the private sector’s commitment
towards improving healthcare.
She said: “The private sector has always been in time. The government has to take a responsibility role.”
Meanwhile, Health and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Steven Kebwe
said he was not aware of the budget allocated for his ministry.
He said he was not in the office and therefore did not take part in
the latest budget estimates. “I will inform you tomorrow (today) for I
am now on my way from a funeral. I will be at the national assembly
tomorrow,” he said and hung out.
Attempts to reach Health and Social Welfare minister Dr Seif Rashid bore no fruits.SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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