Senate passes health emergency bill

The Senate on Wednesday passed a “Bill for an Act to Provide for an Effective National Framework for the Control of Outbreaks of Infectious Diseases and Other Events Endangering Public Health and Requiring Public Health Emergency Measures and For Other Related Matters (SB. 413)”.

The Bill which was first read at the plenary last June was meant to provide for a national framework for the control of outbreaks of infectious diseases in the country.

The Bill passage was sequel to the consideration of a report presented by Senator representing Enugu North and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases, Chukwuka Utazi.

Presenting his Committee report, Senator Utazi, said the objective of the Bill was to establish an updated and comprehensive legislative framework providing for the norms, basis for the making of regulations, rules and guidelines and measures to be applied in the event of an outbreak of infectious and contagious diseases or public health event within or outside Nigeria.

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“It also provides the framework that will necessitate a declaration by the appropriate authority of a public health emergency and to provide a sound basis for the measures and actions of the appropriate authorities during the period of the public health emergencies to control and contain the spread of infectious or contagious diseases or public health events”.

He explained that the bill if signed into law, would ensure a timely response, control and management of public health emergencies coupled with necessary checks and balances, accountability and control.

In a similar development, a Bill to provide a legal framework to establish the Federal Medical Centre Onitsha, Anambra State also scaled second reading.

The bill sponsored by Senator representing Anambra North, Stella Oduah was referred to the Committee on Health by President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, for further work.

The Committee which has Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe as Chairman was given four weeks to report back to the Senate.