The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill seeking to make it compulsory for the Federal Government to provide free healthcare services for children in Nigeria.
The legislation, which was sponsored by a member, Bello Kaoje, is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to Make Health Care Service Delivery Free for All Children in Nigeria; and for Related Matters.’
Leading the debate on the bill at the plenary on Wednesday, Kaoje stated that children’s health needs were significantly different from those of adults.
“By nature, children grow and develop at rapid rates, placing them at special risk of being affected by illness and injury.”
The lawmaker also stated that:
“If health problems are not identified and treated, they can affect a child’s cognitive, physical, behavioural and emotional development.
“With the Federal Government’s health care initiative, Save One Million Lives, it is important to make medical services free for children in Nigeria.”
Kaoje noted that when the Free Health Care Services Delivery to Children in Nigeria Bill was passed into law, it would ensure that all health care services delivered to children were for free.
The passage of the bill is coming at a time when the Federal Government has failed to make the health sector a priority; a situation that has seen Nigerian doctors embark on a series of strikes while some others left Nigeria to practise in other countries.
