Government Urged to Pass Three Health- Related Bills

Published on 24th October,2009, Daily Graphic, pg 19

(Govt urged to pass three health-related bills)

Story: Matilda Attram
THE government has been urged to expedite action on the passage of the Mental Health Bill, the Occupational Health Bill and the Allied Health Bill to facilitate effective and efficient health delivery.
A communiqué issued during the second Civil Society forum organised in Accra by the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health said healthcare delivery would be enhanced if mental patients were treated and served in a conducive environment.
The communiqué, which emphasised health issues, was on the theme, “Reaching the Unreached — the Role of Civil Society”.
It encouraged the government to ensure the active participation of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the country, especially in the regional and district health management team (R/DHMT) programmes.
The communiqué, which was read by the Vice-President of the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Tobacco Control, Mr Oscar Brucealso, emphasised the need to establish institutionalised partnership with civil society working within the health sector of development and re-examine health policies governing health delivery in the country.
“The government should review existing health laws and address gaps in them to ensure their harmonisation for efficient health service delivery,” it said.
The communiqué also urged CSOs to identify and address the challenges that confronted them and state institutions.
In his remarks, the Chairman for the occasion, Mr Solomon Onubuogu, who is the Executive Director of the HESI International Social Agency, explained that the purpose of the forum was to highlight the role of CSOs in promoting development through health.
He said the forum was part of a processing plan for a four-year medium-term programme on health initiated by the government.
The Vice-President of the Coalition of NGOs in Malaria Control, Mrs Beckyln Ulzen-Christian, added that although the organisation faced challenges in their operations, it had achieved the opportunity of co-operating with the government in the planning and implementation of health policies.
She urged CSOs and the media to help change the bad perception the public had about NGOs.