Five agencies under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare are planning to spend ₦57.2 billion on capital projects for the fiscal year 2025.
This was revealed in the national budget estimates presented to the joint sitting of the National Assembly last December by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The agencies, alongside other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal government are currently defending their budgets before the two chambers of the National Assembly.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), it proposes a ₦48,147,841,733 allocation for 2025, with ₦41,934,971,223 set aside for capital projects.A significant portion of the budget will fund 30 ongoing projects and 32 new ones.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) proposes ₦7,384,046,054 allocation for 2025, with ₦3,011,935,192 designated for capital projects for 31 new projects and no ongoing projects slated for the year.
The proposals include ₦270 million for the fight against antimicrobial resistance and ₦400 million for establishing reference zonal public health laboratories across the six geopolitical zones.
For the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), the proposed budget for 2025 is ₦854.9 million dedicated entirely to capital projects.
Notably, the NHIA is not planning any new projects for the year but will continue with six ongoing projects centered around maternal and child health, elderly care, and retiree health insurance.
The projects collectively total around ₦854,944,149.
The Nigeria Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment’s (NICRAT) proposed budget for 2025 is ₦12,248,115,459, with ₦10,807,727,284 allocated to capital projects for 17 ongoing and 40 new projects.
The ongoing projects include the upgrade of chemotherapy suites at six Centres of Excellence at ₦325,000,000.
For the 40 new projects, ₦2 billion is allocated for the procurement and installation of mammography machines across all 36 states.
Alongside ₦557 million proposed for upgrading cancer registries and improving oncology human resource capacity and ₦577 million for strengthening and upgrading of chemotherapy suites for the six Cancer Centres of Excellence, ₦556.5 million is also proposed for oncology human resource capacity-building across Cancer Centres of Excellence in 6 geopolitical zones, with ₦575.9 million projected for the implementation of hospital-based preventive oncology clinical services in Cancer Centres of Excellence in Nigeria.
Human resource capacity building for Cancer Registrars and implementation of National Cancer Registry data monitoring and surveillance in hospitals and community-based Cancer Registries in Nigeria got an estimate of ₦587 million between them.
₦9 million is also proposed for the purchase of land for its permanent site, while 9 other projects got estimates of ₦1 million each.
However, the proposal for ₦9 million to procure a cyclotron for cancer care has raised eyebrows.
Market estimates suggest the cost of a cyclotron ranges from $8 million to $30 million, calling into question whether the proposed budget is sufficient to meet the technology’s requirements.
For the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the proposed total allocation for 2025 is ₦11,650,719,393, with ₦640,588,661 allocated to capital projects.
NAFDAC plans to continue two ongoing projects, including the purchase of laboratory and office equipment estimated to cost ₦438.4 million.
The agency proposed to initiate one new project for additional office equipment, estimated to cost ₦202 million.
