The
Federal Government, on Thursday, said smoking would soon be banned in the
country as soon as the Anti-Tobacco Bill before the National Assembly was
passed into law.
It also disclosed its readiness to convene a Universal
Health Coverage to help boost strategies towards improving healthcare delivery.
Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, who
spoke in Abuja, at a ministerial platform, insisted that the Federal Government
could no longer condone smoking.
He asked rhetorically: “Why are you smoking? Why are
you taking what will kill you? What benefit do you derive from smoking?”
Professor Chukwu listed his achievements in office in
the last two years to include establishment of National Trauma Centres in the
University of Abuja Teaching Hospital and the National Hospital, Abuja;
completion of Federal Staff Hospital, Jabi, Abuja; completion of Laboratory and
Administrative building of the Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research
and Development (NIPRD), Abuja, and rehabilitation and equipping of several
teaching hospitals in the country.
The minster disclosed that President Goodluck Jonathan
increased funding for polio eradication to N4.7billion and made further
commitment of N2.5billion this year with a Presidential Task Force on Polio
Eradication constituted to help in the fight against the disease.
He said, “today in Nigeria, seven of our teaching
hospitals can do kidney transplant. This month, we are expecting International
Certification Team on the Elimination of Guinea Worm in Nigeria.”
Source- Tribune
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