The Senate on Wednesday considered a bill seeking to
give legislative backing for the establishment of the Federal College of
Traditional, Complimentary and Alternate Medicine as an agency under the
Federal Ministry of Health.
The bill which was sponsored by Senator Yahaya
Oloriegbe (APC – Kwara Central) scaled second reading during plenary.
According to Oloriegbe, the need to explore the option
of traditional and alternative medicine has become imperative “in light of our
present day realities, especially the ongoing challenge of COVID-19 Pandemic
and the need to find cure for it from available local herbs and traditional
medicine.”
“With this bill, the Federal College of Traditional
Complementary and Alternative Medicine will become a legal institution for the
training and re-training of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine
professionals in Nigeria and this would enable the implementation of the World
Health Organization (WHO) Traditional Medicine strategic plan 2014-2023.
The lawmaker while emphasizing that the college would
boost the standard of practice of Traditional, Complimentary and Alternative
Medicine in Nigeria, underscored its importance towards improving the
coordination of evidence-based medicine in the field of Nigeria Indigenous
Medicine.
“It will also update the extent of usage of Traditional
Medicine in Nigeria and facilitate the implementation of National Policy on
integrative medicine.”
“The domestication of the training, (instead of
spending huge resource to train people abroad) will prevent unnecessary wastage
of hard earn foreign currency which could be put to other essential services.
The College would also serve as training hub for West Africa Sub-Region”,
Oloriegbe added.
The bill after consideration was referred by the Senate
President, Ahamad Lawan, to the Committee in Tertiary Institution and TETFUND
to report back in four weeks.
Meanwhile, A bill for An Act to repeal the Nigerian Oil
and Gas Industry Content Act 2010 and to enact the Nigerian Local and Content
Development and Enforcement Commission Act scaled second reading during plenary
on Wednesday.
The bill which was sponsored by Senator Aliyu Sabi
Abdullahi (APC – Niger North) was referred to the Committee on Local Content
for further legislative work.
In a related development, A bill for an Act to amend
the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Act also scaled Second reading on
the floor of the Senate.
Sponsored by Senator Albert Bassey Akpan (PDP – Akwa
Ibom North East), the Bill according to the lawmaker, seeks to “stimulate
economic development by means of reducing inflationary pressure and insulating
the the national economy from volatility in the prices of non-renewable
resources.”
The bill was referred by the Senate President, Ahmad
Lawan, to the Committee on Finance for further legislative input.
The Committee which is chaired by Senator Solomon
Olamilekan Adeola (APC – Lagos West) is expected to submit its report in four
weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment