The House of Representatives has proposed seven years jail term and a N500 million fine for any public officer of the government of the federation or any part thereof, for seeking undue medical check-ups or treatment abroad.
The sponsor of the bill, Hon. Sergius Oguns joins us to enlighten us about the bill and the reactions it has gotten so far. #YourViewTVC
The proposed legislation is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to amend the National Health Act, 2014; and for related matters’.
Leading the debate on the bill, Ogun noted that the objective of the proposed law was to amend the Act “so as to make provision for sanctions against any public officer, who violates the provisions of the Act, especially Section 46 of the Act”.
The section reads,
“Without prejudice to the right of any Nigerian to seek medical check-up, investigation or treatment anywhere within and outside Nigeria, no public officer of the government of the federation or any part thereof shall be sponsored for medical check-up, investigation or treatment abroad at public expense, except in exceptional cases on the recommendation and referral by the medical board and which recommendation and referral shall be duly approved by the minister or commissioner of Health of the state as the case may be”.
“This bill, which seeks to amend the National Health Act, is borne out of a desire to discourage medical treatment abroad at the detriment of our indigenous health institutions. The need to revamp the poor state of the health care sector in Nigeria, among other things, is the reason for introducing this bill.
“It is no news that Nigeria’s health care system is in a deplorable state and needs urgent attention. There is paucity of infrastructure, dearth of medical personnel, poor standards and many other challenges that need to be addressed. The intent of this bill is to spur public officers to pay more attention to our health care sector and take drastic steps to develop and improve on the sector.”
“If this House passes this bill into law, it will curtail the excessive medical trips of public officers abroad and direct their attention to fixing the poor state of the country’s health sector. This will in turn lead to the development of the health sector and improved remuneration for medical doctors, thus attracting Nigerian doctors abroad to come back home,”
The lawmaker also noted that the bill, when passed into law, would demonstrate the government’s commitment to the welfare of citizens, “in the sense that funds, which were hitherto expended on foreign medical trips, will be redirected into building an efficient and effective health care system in the country. This will in turn positively impact the lives and wellbeing of the people”.
See video below!
