Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State yesterday signed the Contributory Health Care Management Bill 2019 and three others.
The others are the Gombe State Hospitals Services Management Board Bill, the Gombe State Council on Public Procurement Bill and the Public Procurement Bureau Bill.
Yahaya noted that the bills would help to improve efficiency and effectiveness in health care service delivery, as well as ensure transparency, accountability and good governance in the state.
He said, “It was disheartening that Gombe was the only state in the country without a hospital management board. But with the signing of the Hospitals Services Management Board bill into law, our hospitals will now operate more effectively and ordinary people will now have some reprieve in terms of basic health care service.
“Equally, with the Contributory Health Care Management Board Law in place, the state will now align with the National Health Policy and we shall access the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, which can be accessed only with this law in place.
“Many state governors have since replicated the National Health Insurance Scheme and they have been accessing the funds to improve the basic health care services in their respective states. With this development, Gombe has now joined the league and there will be some succor for the people, especially the less privileged ones, who find it difficult to get support when needed.”
The governor commended the House of Assembly for the speedy consideration and passage of the three bills and promised to enforce compliance with the provisions of the laws.
