West Africa: Ecowas Parliament Recommends Increased Allocation of National Budgets to Health Promotion

The ECOWAS Parliament, through its joint committees, has recommended the allocation of 15 percent of the national budgets of Member States to health promotion.

The Community Parliament made these and other recommendations at the climax of its just-concluded de-localized meeting in Guinea Conakry, held from September 3rd to 7, 2024.

The Conakry meeting, held by the Community Parliament’s Joint Committee on Health/Committee on Education, Science and Culture/Committee on Telecommunications and Information Technology/Committee on Industry and Private Sector, was aimed at promoting health technology in member states. The meeting was held under the theme: “Promoting health services and education in West Africa: the role of the ECOWAS Parliament.”

The overall objective of the meeting was to raise awareness among MPs on health services and education, to enable them to make significant contributions to the promotion of health policies in ECOWAS member states. The meeting was characterized by presentations, discussions, and field visits after which members of the Joint Committees made the following conclusions and recommendations. Members of the joint committee noted the progress made and the challenges ahead in promoting health services and education in West Africa and asserted the need for Parliamentarians to become actively involved in their country’s national health and education policy programs.

The Joint Committee also asserted the need for community MPs to undertake awareness-raising, education, and information campaigns for the benefit of their local populations particularly in rural communities where School enrollment, access to health facilities, and telecommunications technologies remain low.

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As part of their legislative roles, members of the Ecowas Parliament were called upon to propose or vote on bills designed to bring national legislation in line with community provisions, and believe that for these to be realized, the following measures need to be implemented, both at the levels of member states and the ECOWAS Parliament.

At the level of Member States, the committee advocates for health-promotion policies, by ensuring that community budgets are allocated to health in line with the commitments made in the 2021 Abuja Declaration when governments pledged to devote 15% of their national budgets to health; help set up innovative financing for the funding and promotion of health and education; continuous capacity building for parliamentarians on the concepts of health and health determinants; incorporate community provisions on health services and education into national legislation; promote health education as a fundamental right for all social groups; promote the adoption of laws favorable to the promotion of health services and education in member states, and ensure the internalization of international, continental and regional instruments.

At the level of the ECOWAS Parliament, the committee recommended for the parliament to contribute to behavioral change communications among their populations and communities, to promote health and education.

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