A total N7.45 billion has been cut from funds allocated for strategic interventions in health care, after lawmakers adjusted portions of the 2018 Budget signed into law on Wednesday.
The funding was to pay to upgrade of some federal hospitals, transport and cold-chain storage of vaccines, and payment for anti-retroviral drugs for patients on treatment, the Presidency said hours after signing the budget.
The fund was also meant to establish chemotherapy centres and procure consumables for dialysis, according to a list of cuts made by lawmakers.
Some 4,700 projects across different sectors were affected by the cuts, amounting to N347 billion.
But the lawmakers also introduced 6.403 projects of their own amounting to N578 billion.
That’s raised the initial proposal of N8.162 trillion for the 2018 budget to N9.12 trillion.
