The Bauchi State Ministry of Health has described its scorecard on the health budget and Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) as effective tools for the evaluation of healthcare services in the state.

The acting Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Dayyabu Hassan, who stated this at a dissemination session held in Bauchi on Tuesday, added that the two scorecards would guide and assess the performance of the state’s line ministries, agencies, and departments(MDAs) in the health sector.

“It is important to see reports on health activities for future corrections and improvements in the MNCH healthcare using the indicators,” he said.

While urging the relevant MDAs to study the document, he commended the coalition for developing a reference document for the health sector.

Also speaking, Mr. Sirajo Mohammed, the state Deputy Accountant General, disclosed that all funds approved in 2021 for primary healthcare agencies had been released.

He pledged that the office of the Accountant general would continue to release funds to save the lives of mothers and babies in the state.

Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Mrs. Bulak Afsa, said that the scorecard was aligned with funds budgeted for health MDAs and it further provided information on the release of funds allocated for MNCH activities.

She said that the data used for the development of the scorecard was generated from the Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency and the National Demographic Health Information System(NDHIS2).

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The scorecard was developed under the Bauchi State Accountability Mechanism for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (BaSAM MNCH).

A coalition is a voluntary group that comprises health professionals, Civil Society Organisations, and the media committed to saving the lives of mothers and children in the state.

It was established in 2014 with support from a Non-Governmental Organization(NGO) named ‘Evidence for Action; Mamaye project’.