Buhari urged to assent to pending health bills

The National Advocates for Health, a civil society organisation made up experts in the health sector have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to all pending health bills passed by the 8th National Assembly. They made the call while briefing newsmen in Abuja. Chair of the group, Prof. Oladapo Ladipo and Vice Chairman, House […]

The National Advocates for Health, a civil society organisation made up experts in the health sector have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to all pending health bills passed by the 8th National Assembly.

They made the call while briefing newsmen in Abuja. Chair of the group, Prof. Oladapo Ladipo and Vice Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Health Care Services, Mohammed Usman said the bills are the National Health Insurance Commission Bill which provides a policy framework that made Health Insurance mandatory in Nigeria , and the bills to establish the FCT Health Insurance Agency and the FCT Primary Health Care Development Board.

Others are the amendment of the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria Establishment Act which provides for task shifting endeavors and also promotes private investments in the pharmaceutical sector, and the bills to establish the Health Information Practitioners Council and Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria; which promotes professionalism and global best practices among health information practitioners and chemists respectively.

The advocates said it was important for the president to urgently assent to the bills as the tenure of the 8thNational Assembly would expire on the 9th of June.

They said doing so is of national interest and would help take the health sector to the next level.

“The implication of not giving assent to these bills before 9th June is the fact that they will have to be return to the 9th National Assembly for consideration and undergo another long legislative process. We hope Mr President will do the needful by assenting to these passed bills,” they said.