Oshiomhole okays health institutions’ bills

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GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has signed into law a bill establishing the state’s College of Nursing and Midwifery.

Also to get official seal was the Primary HealthCare Development Agency Bill aimed at regulating healthcare services in the state.

At the signing ceremony over the weekend in Benin City, the state capital, the governor said: “We have a bill establishing Edo State College of Nursing and Midwifery and other matters. Although we have a School of Nursing, but there were huge gaps and we checked all the records with the Ministry of Justice and there was no law formally establishing the institution which raises legal issues about the status of the institution and we agreed, and forwarded a draft bill to the House of Assembly to formally pass the bill to enable us, as it were, formally establish in law the School of Nursing and Midwifery.”

Oshiomhole added: “This is an old institution. It has produced several nurses and midwives over the years and somehow there was no formal set-up and as they say, better late than never. The School of Nursing was established many years ago and I think at the level of the Federal Ministry of Health, there are issues arising from the absence of enabling laws with regards to the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Edo State.

“Also, we have a law that provides for the establishment of Primary Health Care Development Agency and other matters connected therewith.

“This particular legislation is an executive bill which the House has graciously considered and passed for the executive to sign into law. Over the years, different levels of government for a variety of reasons have devoted huge resources constructing various health centres across the 18 local government areas.

“Some built by the Federal Government through so-called constituency projects, some by local government and some by state government and some through the Millennium Development Goal Agency.

“The result is that we have what we call proliferation of various health centres across the state. This is extremely helpful if these health centres are properly managed. They tend to provide opportunity for our people across the state, especially rural areas to have access to primary healthcare and only complicated cases are supposed to be referred to General Hospitals.”

Source: TheGuardian