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Minister of Health, Dr Emmanuel Ehanire has faulted certain provisions of the Quarantine Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill, being considered by the Senate Committee on Primary Health and Communicable Diseases, says it may usurp NCDC’s role
He made the submission on Friday while speaking at a one-day public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Primary Health and Communicable Diseases.
The Health Minister said some of the provisions in the proposed Public Health Emergency Bill were in conflict with the statutory functions of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
He said, ” It is important to draw the attention of this Committee to the fact that the provision for the proposed Public Health Emergency bill, are already contained in other enactments of this National Assembly such as the Nigeria Center For Disease Control Act of 2018.
The bill seeks to repeal the Quarantine Act 2004 and enact the Public Health Emergency Act 2021.
It aims at providing for an effective and efficient legal and administrative machinery to address the challenges posed by any sudden outbreak of infectious diseases endangering public health in Nigeria.
The minister said some of its provisions were already contained in other enactments of the National Assembly such as the NCDC Act of 2018.
“To be specific, sections 1 and 3 of the bill portend potential conflict with existing Act of the NCDC as far as task force for formulation and implementation of emergency measures are concerned,” he said.
Pandemics: Health Ministry rejects NASS Bill to sideline NCDC
On
By Tordue Salem – Abuja
The Minister of Health, Dr Osage Ehanire, and several other stakeholders, Thursday kicked against provisions in a bill sponsored by Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases and Health Institutions.
The piece of legislation, they noted, duplicates key functions of the National Centre for Diseases Control, NCDC, and according to them, is a waste of efforts.
YIAGA Africa, and other stakeholders partnering with the National Assembly, to strengthen Nigeria’s response system to diseases outbreaks, however, said the legislative instrument, will strengthen efforts of already existing structures on communicable diseases.
Nigerian Governor Says 279 Kidnapped Students Freed
March 02, 2021
An official embraces a girl who was kidnapped from a boarding school in the northwest Nigerian state of Zamfara, as she heads for a medical check-up after her release in Zamfara, Nigeria March 2, 2021. (REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde)
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Hundreds of Nigerian girls who were kidnapped last week from a school in the country’s northwestern Zamfara state have been released.
The leader of Zamfara state announced the girls’ release on Tuesday. There has been a series of such kidnappings in the West African nation in recent years.
279 Nigerian girls freed after kidnapped from boarding school, governor says
By Lekan Oyekanmi and Sam Olukoya
Published article
A group of girls previously kidnapped from their boarding school in northern Nigeria arrive on March 2, 2021 at the Government House in Gusau, Zamfara State upon their release. (Photo by Aminu ABUBAKAR / AFP) (Photo by AMINU ABUBAKAR/AFP via Getty Im
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GUSAU, Nigeria - Hundreds of Nigerian girls abducted last week from a boarding school in the country’s northwest have been released, a state governor said Tuesday, as the West African nation faces a spate of school kidnappings.
The girls, ages 10 and up, dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot, packed into Zamfara state’s Government House conference room. They appeared calm, chatting to one another as they sat in long rows while journalists photographed them. They will receive a medical checkup before being returned to their parents.