By Chris Ochayi

ABUJA— PRIMARY Health Development Agency, PHDA, Wednesday, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to sign into law the health bill currently before him, saying it would turn-around the sorry state of the health sector in the country.

Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Primary Health Care Development Agency, Rilwanu Mohammed, who stated this at the launch of the Maries Stopes Clinic for Reproductive Health Care and family planning services recently in Karu, a suburb at the FCT, said the delay by the President in signing the bill into law was hampering effective health care delivery in the country.

He urged the President to immediately consider the signing of the health bill into law, if the country must meet the health related Millennium Development Goals, MDGS, by 20-2020.

Mohammed who noted that the signing of the bill in to law will bring down maternal mortality rate and improve health care services in the country stressed that if government developed the health sector in a way that health care services were accessed at reasonable cost, it would drive other sectors to improve the economy of the country.

He said: “We have all it takes to improve the health condition of our people. The health sector is the bedrock of all sectors and when it is well taken care of, it will drive other sectors of the economy. The most important thing in this journey is the signing of health bill. Let the president sign the health bill into law, you will see wonders in health sector.”

Speaking earlier, Country Director of Marie Stopes Nigeria, Richard Boustred, said the idea behind the opening of the clinic was to bring high quality sexual and reproductive health care to the door step of the people.