A member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Ben Ibakpa (PDP-Delta), has appealed to stakeholders to support the bill for an Act to establish a Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Oghara, Delta.
Ibakpa made the plea at a public hearing organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Health Institutions on Thursday in Abuja to harvest views of the general public and critical stakeholders.
Ibakpa, who is the sponsor of the bill, said that Delta is a microcosm of Nigeria and it is difficult to develop as a result of the spread of its cities.
He said that the only opposing voice against the establishment of the FMC in Oghara is the policy that says an FMC already exists in Asaba, the state capital.
The Rep explained that Asaba is at the edge of the state (Delta North) which is five hours drive from Oghara saying that many patients had died trying to reach the FMC in Asaba.
Ibakpa said that Oghara is in Delta Central and has boundaries with eight Local Government Areas saying that the existing FMC in Asaba would not help the people of Oghara and its environs.
According to him, if the FMC is established, it will serve more than 20 Local Government Areas in Delta and Edo.
“Oghara hosts a Federal Polytechnic, the Western Delta University, over 12 operational tank farms, School of Health Technology, Institute of Continuous Education, over 200 secondary schools, and over 400 primary schools.
“It has the Mopol 51 base, Naval Logistic Command, so many government institutions in that local government.
“We are here to represent our people and in representing them, we should be able to bring the dividends of democracy, the universal health coverage, closer to our people.
“That is what has informed the need to ask that an FMC be established in Oghara.
“The population explosion over the years warrants the special consideration and the plea that Oghara being the center should be given this FMC,’’ he said.
Ibakpa said that the Teaching Hospital in the area which is basically for training and treating a higher ailments, 80 percent of its departments had been outsourced, making it too expensive for the ordinary man.
In his remarks, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said that the ministry was in agreement with the sponsor with regard to access to healthcare for the growing population of the people.
Represented by the Principal Medical Officer, Dr. Shetak Gilbert, Ehanire said that the Federal Ministry of Health was working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure universal health coverage.
“For us to achieve this, we need to bring healthcare services closer to the people for them to have access.
“The ministry in a spirit of achieving universal health coverage will continue to work with this committee, the House of Representatives, and the National Assembly in general to achieve this request,’’ he said.
The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Pascal Obi (APC-Imo), said that there was an existing policy of the Federal Government that allowed only one FMC per state.
According to him, the policy also says that if a state has a Federal Teaching Hospital, such a state should not ask for FMC in addition to that.
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“Those are the things when we get to the committee level we will brainstorm and consult further with the Federal Ministry of Health before we submit our final report to the House of Reps.
“Be rest assured that we will do justice to the bill; we will do what we can do and leave the rest to the Committee of the Whole to take a decision.
“After the third reading, it will go to the Senate for concurrence before its metamorphosis into a law.
“We will do all within our powers to make sure justice is done to the bill,’’ he said.
