By Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Charles Ogili, Conakry, Guinea
The Co-Chairman of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committee, Sen. Onyeka Peter Nwebonyi, who is also the Deputy Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate and first-time Senator representing Ebonyi North Senatorial District in Nigeria’s National Assembly has appealed to ECOWAS member states to prioritise health..
The Senator who spoke on the sidelines of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committee on Health/Education, Science, Culture/Telecommunications and Information Technology/Industry and the Private sector in Conakry, the Republic of Guinea also enjoined all member States of ECOWAS to place health on first line charge in their budgets.
He also said leaders in other West African nations should take a cue from what Guinea did for its citizens by establishing a world-class hospital that is affordable and managed for the good of the people.
His words: “We are here as Committee members of ECOWAS to discuss very important issues which is health education within the ECOWAS region. It goes without saying that health is wealth. The development of any nation is dependent on her healthy population. You will agree with me that this is a very sensitive matter, and every government ranging from local, national, regional, and international should place health as first line charge in all their budgets and that is what we stand here to emphasize and in the cause of that we visited health facilities within Conakry, the capital of Guinea and I must tell you, they are doing well, the teaching hospital is superb, other hospital visited is also good. What impressed me much is that their charges are minimal, unlike what we see in Nigeria and other West African countries. I think other countries should emulate Guinea in this respect because health is wealth, and health services should be the primary assignment of any government, and that is what ECOWAS is pushing. ”
He further stated: “As part of our resolution here, we have agreed that we are going to tell our member states to take health as first line charge as I said earlier. In fact, we have gone beyond that to enact laws as a matter of human rights to citizens, particularly the vulnerable groups and children. ”
Sen. Nwebonyi further noted that on an individual basis, every parliamentarian should incorporate health services as part of their Constituency Projects.
He said: “Of course, as parliamentarians, we all have Constituency projects, and that is where to start with. Every parliamentarian should try to incorporate in his or her Constituency projects health services to the people because it is only the healthy that can talk of development, so, everybody, all hands should be on deck, be you parliamentarian, President, Governor, people should take health seriously. In view of the peculiar nature of West Africa, we have so many diseases ravaging West Africa, and we must take deliberate steps to address it. So, we have to do that. ”
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