On Tuesday, the Senate
urged the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to make meningitis vaccinations free in public
healthcare facilities across the country.
The
resolution followed a motion titled: “Outbreak of Meningitis and the
Urgent Need to Curb its Spread & Stop Further Deaths” sponsored by
Senator Gbenga Ashafa and 16 other
Senators.
The
Senate noted the outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis in five States,
while also stressing the need for an increase in the budget of the
Federal Ministry of Health, in order
to ensure that the Ministry and its parastatals are able to better fund
healthcare-related activities in the country.
The
Senators also resolved that meningitis vaccinations should be made free
across the country, citing the need for agencies of the federal
government to continue to collaborate
with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to make the scarce
inoculations against meningitis readily available.
Dr.
Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, noted that with Lassa
Fever, Cholera and Meningitis outbreak in parts of the country, there
was a need for increased coordination
and funding for regular and specialized healthcare in the 2017 budget.
He
assured Nigerians that the Senate is prepared to promptly pass any
supplemental appropriation request to combat disease outbreaks.
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