Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill seeking to amend the Orthopaedic Hospitals Management Board Act, in order to create an Orthopaedic Hospital in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The bill, which is sponsored by the deputy speaker, Idris Wase, is seeking to amend the Orthopaedic Hospitals Management Board Act, so as to provide for the establishment of an additional orthopaedic hospital in the country.
Wase, in his lead debate, said it is imperative that an additional orthopaedic hospital is established in order to ease the burden on the three existing Orthopaedic Hospitals.
The deputy speaker argued that if an orthopaedic hospital is established in Jos, it will serve the people of the North Central region, which does not have an orthopaedic centre at the moment.
Similarly, the House has passed for second reading a bill for the establishment of a Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Wase, Plateau State.
The proposed legislation entitled a ‘Bill for an Act to Establish the Federal Medical Centre, Wase, Plateau State’, is sponsored by the deputy speaker, Idris Wase.
Wase, leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, said the proposed FMC is necessary to bridge the gap in the health care delivery in the area.
According to him, there is currently no functional health care facility to cater for the health needs of the people of Wase and environs.
The deputy speaker argued that if an FMC is established in Wase, it will help to to reduce the burden on Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and other health facilities within the North Central and North-eastern part of the country as people from Bauchi, Gombe, Jos South Local Area and part of Taraba State can easily access services in the facility.
‘Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State, despite its strategic location in Plateau State, dense and growing population and apparently having significant health challenges has no tertiary health facility to provide qualitative health services for its people,’ the lawmaker said.
‘It is imperative to note that Wase as a geographic entity is located to connect the Southern and Northern Plateau zones and also connects to several neighbouring communities such as in several states including Bauchi, Nasarawa, Gombe and Taraba States”.
‘Wase is also a rich economic zone harbouring rich deposits of mineral resources and of recent, Federal Government oil exploration activities which has been attracting both local and international investors to the Constituency. It is, therefore, only logical that a place of such strategic economic, cultural and geographic significance should have a health facility that can cater to the needs of its growing population.’