OYHA to give PHCA, other health bills quick passage – Speaker

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By; Bayo Akamo, Ibadan.
Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Michael Adeyemo has declared that the House will soon pass the state’s Primary Health Care Agency Bill and other health related bills presently before them.
Hon Adeyemo stated this while receiving members of some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Health Reform Foundation, Food For All, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria under the platform of Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFaH), in his office in Ibadan.
Speaking through the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Abdulwasiu Musah, the Speaker who disclosed that the lawmakers are set to give the bills quick passage said the four bills now before the House have to do with health including the primary health care agency bill had already passed through the second reading which means they would be passed any moment from now.
“If you are familiar with legislative proceedings, you will agree with me that if a bill has passed through the second reading, the next thing is to go to the committee stage, the committee is presently looking at the bill, I want to assure the people that in the next few weeks, the primary health care agency bill will be passed into law and not only that, we have other health related bill pending in the House of Assembly and one thing they have in common is that they have passed through the second reading. In due course, I promised the people of Oyo State that the bills would be passed into law,” he said.
Hon Adeyemo stressed that “this shows that government is not all alone to ensure the provision of quality health to the populace, the group have shown the passion that they are to ensure that family planning is available to the people of Oyo State and they have shown that the issue of primary health gets to the people at the grassroots”.
“I am impressed and I believe that the dream and aspirations of the Senator Abiola Ajimobi led administration is met and the people of the state will be the beneficiary of this”.
The Speaker declared that though this year’s budget had already been passed into law, there is the likelihood for supplementary budget when the need arises, especially having a special vote for family planning in the state”.
In his remark, a consultant in Child and Family Heath, Dr. Muhammad Saleh who spoke on behalf of the group said the purpose of the group’s visit was to engage the lawmaker, enlighten and educate them on their oversight function in ensuring that budgetary allocations to family planning, routine immunization are released and used for the purpose they were meant to serve.
He lamented that funds meant to combat various diseases and implement various health programmes are often withheld in most states of the federation and this and other problems have prompted the organization to take the gospel to the state.
Emphasizing that the motive for the visit was to critically engage the government, the legislative and executive on key issues such as family planning, routine immunization and to ensure that money meant for these key areas were utilized effectively, Dr Saleh urged the lawmakers to support the adoption and implementation of national strategic plan in the state as well as to support domestication of family planning blueprint in the state.

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