Reps support overseas medical treatment regulatory bill for public office holders

Members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday expressed overwhelming support for the bill which seeks to regulate overseas medical treatment for public officers and the families.

The affected Nigerians are: elected political office holders at all levels, political appointees, civil servants and government officials.

The lawmakers who spoke in favour of the bill including: Johnson Agbonayinma (APC-Edo), Alexander Adekola (APC-Ogun), expressed the support during the debate on the bill for an Act to amend National Health Act, 2014, which seeks to regulate international trip for medical treatment by public officers.

The bill also seeks to strengthen the health institutions for efficient service delivery and ensure employment of qualified medical and para-medical personnels with specialization in the treatment of various ailments.

The bill also seeks to review the salary of medical personnel in accordance with international best practices, with the view to encourage Nigerian doctors in the Diaspora to come back to practice in Nigeria as well as provide modern equipment and manpower for the treatment of terminal ailments and non-terminal ailments.

According to Sergius Ogun, sponsor of the amendment bill, terminal illness means: “those disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in death of the patient within a short period of time may be weeks, months or years,” while chronic disease means “disease lasting three months or more, that cannot be prevented by vaccines or cured by medication, nor do they just disappear.

According to him, Nigeria loses over $500 million annually to overseas medical tour, with India getting about $260 million share of the capital flight.

“I want to make it clear that it is not to block anyone from seeking medical treatment abroad, it is only in Nigeria that a President flown out and brought back dead, where a Vice President is flown out but brought back dead, where a sitting President is flown out for medical treatment for 6months but we still don’t know the cost of the medical treatment” Ogun said

On his part, Ahmed Abu (APC-Niger) in an emotionally filled speech recounted a personal tragedy where his father was admitted to a private Hospital in Nigeria and after spending N6 million, the family had to charter an ambulance plane that cost the family N26 million to fly him to Dubai for treatment, spending additional sum of N15 million on treatment only for him to still lose the father.

He added that it took the intervention of the Nigerian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirate to ensure man was buried in Dubai.

However, another member, Edward Pwajok (APC, Plateau) called for caution, calling on the members to allow the bill to pass, so as to allow experts give recommendations on the implementation of the bill.

In the same vein, Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje (PDP-Abia), who spoken against the passage of the bill, cautioned against breach of fundamental rights of Nigerians who maybe in dire need of foreign medical treatment.

As stipulated in section 4 of the bill, under the prohibition clauses: “A public officer shall not embark on medical trip abroad without approval or embark on medical trip abroad unless he satisfactorily proves to the office where he is working, that such ailment cannot be treated in Nigeria.

Section 5 to 7 of the bill also provide that such “public officer must apply in writing seeking approval of the Minister and submit relevant documents including: certified true copy of the doctor’s report recommending further treatment abroad, local treatment paper consisting the name of the hospital visited and treatment administered, result of laboratory investigation conducted on the applicant, sworn affidavit stating the urgency of the treatment and a complete request form obtained from the Minister seeking to travel abroad for medical treatment.”

Under the new policy, Minister of Health is also saddled with the responsibility of conducting an investigation to verify the authenticity of the documents submitted for approval, with the view to approve or otherwise if the applicant’s request is found to be false, according to section 8 of the bill.

However, section 10 of the bill provides for offences/penalties stipulates that “a person who contravenes any of the provisions of this bill shall upon conviction, be liable to a fine of N1 million or a term not exceeding three years or to both.

After the submission of the application, the Minister is under obligation to investigate and if satisfied that the public officer’s income is capable of taking care of he ward or child’s school expenses, he may grant the application, but if investigation reveals that the document is false or not satisfactory, the Minister shall refuse the application and inform the applicant in writing of his approval or refusal within 10 working days of declaration of interest form.

Anyone who contravenes any of the provisions of the bill, when signed into law, as stated in Section 9, shall upon conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding N1 million or a term not exceeding three years, or to both.

On his part, Engr. Charles Akintola, chairman, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ikeja Branch who applauded the initiative, called for punitive measures to ensure strict compliance with the legislations.

Akintola who called for the enforcement of the National Health Act, expressed dismay over the flagrant disregard for extant laws regulating critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.

He observed that most of the government owned health institutions lack requisite manpower and facilities that could take care of the teeming Nigerian population especially at the grassroot level.

“While I consider this as a major breakthrough in the history of Nigeria, I also have reservations as to the implementation or enforcement by relevant agencies.

“The problem with this country is not insufficient laws, policies or programmes, rather implementation,” Akintola stressed.

In her repsonse, Vivian Bellonwu-Okafor, Head Social Action, a Civil Society Organisation, expressed optimism that the legislation will help to deepen the fight against corruption and impunity across the country.

“It’s a two sides of the coin issue; as the saying goes, radical problems require radical actions; the ruling elites and their collaborators in public service have supervised the systematic crippling and collapse of both the health and educational sectors in Nigeria.

“Yearly budgetary allocations to these sectors have roundly been looted and stashed away in private accounts and used to service the families and cronies of these individuals while innocent Nigerians languish in skeleton hospitals with no proper drugs or equipments, schools that are moribound and perennially on strikes all year round.

“The both bills are more than timely, in fact they are overdue. I have personally witnessed (during one of our trips on the budget monitoring of health sector in Delta State), innocent women that had just delivered of new born babies kept on bare floors along with their babies in government hospital simply because there were no bed; allocations of which were made but of course stolen,” she lamented.

 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja