NMA Restates Commitment To Passage Of Health Bill

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), has restated its commitment to ensure the swift passage of the National Health Bill. At a rally at the public hearing on the National Health Bill held by the senate in Abuja last Monday,

Vice President of Abuja chapter, Dr Fatimah Mairami said that the essence of the rally was to support the passage of the bill in spite of some opposition.

“We noticed that in the past when the health bill was brought for public hearing, a few forces that did not understand some issues in the bill opposed it.We are here to say the health bill is for the good of everyone, from the market woman to the child in the village to ensure accessible health care delivery.”

Mairami said that a law on health would ensure the rights of the people to quality health care and help providers administer proper health care to the public.

She said that one of the key issues the bill sought to address was the issue of maternal and child care in the country.

“The bill will aim to provide adequate health care, accessible and affordable for mothers and children under five.Every woman that goes to a hospital pregnant for ante-natal or delivery services will have essential health care given to her.’’

Speaking on the section of the bill which addresses the issue of abortion, she said that the bill sought to liberalise abortion not legalise it as some people thought.

Mairami explained that because the constitution did not legalise abortion, and women and young girls end up in the hands of quacks.

She explained that there were situations when a pregnancy was detrimental to the health and psyche of women and young girls, especially in the case of rape or incest, adding “what we want to do is liberalise the laws, so people can walk in, if there is need, to have a termination of pregnancy for medical reasons or sometimes for social reasons”.

“To go into a hospital where the environment is clean and one can have it done by qualified personnel, so that complications from it are minimised.So we can stop this high number of young girls that are dying from complications of induced abortion because they are done by quacks,” she stated.

The Secretary, NMA Abuja, Dr Job Amodu, said that the bill would also address issues such as the health insurance scheme and the MDGs.

Amodu said that these issues would be put in the forefront, so that more attention and funding would be given in that regard.

“It also involves the three tiers of government, apart from not paying lip service to health care delivery, it will also ensure they put their money where their mouth is by supporting health care delivery.That in summary is saying that the bill is going to make health care better for everybody, we want to ensure that this time around the bill is passed into law”, he said.