Issued by Department of Health
22-26 August 2005
The SA Minister of Health Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said at the 55 th Session of the WHO-AFRO Regional Committee in Maputo today (Tues) that the WHO Budget for Africa for 2006-2007 amounting to US$949,5 million was insufficient in comparison to the high burden of diseases in the continent.
“It is appreciated that the African Region is getting the second highest budget only to the Head Quarters. This high allocation however is not sufficient in comparison to the high burden of diseases,” says, Dr Tshabalala-Msimang during the adoption of the budget by the Regional Committee in Maputo, Mozambique.
WHO has allocated a budget of nearly 30% of all its combined income to Africa for the next biennium. This is the largest proportion of the Organisation’s budget. But, the WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo admitted that the budget relied heavily on voluntary contributions.
“It is of concern that a high percentage of the budget (78%) comes from voluntary contributions and therefore may be subject to unpredictable periods of availability – further they may be tied to certain programmes and not really for distribution to all countries,” said, Dr Tshabalala-Msimang, addressing Health Ministers and delegates from 46 African countries attending the meeting.
The Regional Committee has identified 16 priority areas, namely: health systems development, HIV and AIDS, Malaria, TB, maternal health, child health, mental health, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obstructive chronic respiratory diseases, blood safety, poverty and health, preparedness for and response to emergencies and epidemics, youth and adolescent health, health promotion, essential medicines (including traditional medicine), nutrition, and health and environment.
“We support the 16 priority programmes that will be covered by the budget but note that whilst the WHO Report of 2004 mentions neonates as needing to be prioritised since they fall between the cracks of the Maternal and Child Health Care programmes, neonates are not mentioned as priority. It is suggested that they are prioritised so that there can be adequate budgets allocated to improve facilities to improve newborn care. This is in the light of the fact that more neonates die in the first week of life,” added the Minister.
“Strengthening of infrastructure needs to be a priority to optimising health care delivery, so we all call for more resources on that. Whilst it is noted that budget allocated to countries has increased, there is a concern at the high percentage directed to running cost, as opposed to real programme budget increase,” she said.
The Minister supported the decentralisation efforts of WHO-AFRO in order to strengthen countries and forge closer collaboration with health ministries as well as regional formations.
However, she was concerned that the Director-General had decided to withhold 3 percent of all country budgets in lieu of late paying and defaulting countries.
“This may appear as an expression of mistrust and might be a source of inconvenience for those countries paying on time. We therefore urge the Director-General to reconsider this practice,” concluded the Minister.
Contact: Charity Bhengu 082 772 0161