Audio By Carbonatix
Rising Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation, is asking President John Mahama to prioritize the Public Health Bill to make it become law.
Parliament in 2012, passed the Public Health Bill, which also included the Tobacco Bill. That was almost a month after Rising Ghana, then known as Ghana Rising, made a passionate call on the Speaker of Parliament to pass the Bill which had been in Parliament for years.
Many groups and individuals, including a former Director General of Ghana Health Service, Professor Agyemang Badu-Akorsah lauded Parliament for passing the Public Health Bill.
Almost a year after it was passed however, the Bill is yet to receive Presidential assent, to promulgate it into law.
General Secretary for Rising Ghana, Pastor Raymond Boakye Danquah made the call on Saturday, March 2, 2013 at the NGO’s monthly Personal Development Seminar dubbed “Living a Purposeful Life”. It was the second in the year.
Pastor Boakye Danquah maintained, further delay in making the Bill become law will continue to put the lives on non-smokers at risk because currently, there is no law regulating smoking in the country.
He said making it become law will further reinforce the leadership position that Ghana has taken in Africa, as a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), when it signed the treaty in 2005.
Faced with the devastating effects of the tobacco epidemic, world leaders in 2003 adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a binding international treaty.
Today, 175 countries, plus the European Union, are Parties to the FCTC, accounting for almost 90 percent of the world’s population including Ghana.
“The entire body of the Rising Ghana is calling on the President of the Republic to also prioritize the Public Health Bill so that Parliament can finish its work on this,” Pastor Danquah stressed.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
This government should expect scrutiny – Asiedu Nketiah
11 minutes -
Two-year-old girl dies in domestic fire at Cantonments
56 minutes -
Asiedu Nketiah urges better working conditions for journalists
1 hour -
JoyNews’ Precious Semevoh wins climate change reporting award at Bono GJA Awards
1 hour -
Kumasi Central Market phase 2 to begin in October after years of abandonment
1 hour -
Sentuo offers fuel supply reassurance as NPA sees steady output through December
2 hours -
Ghanaian smock showcased at Lesotho Tourism Summit
3 hours -
Four pupils to one desk: The painful plight of schools in New Juaben North
3 hours -
Ipswich launch investigation into racist abuse of Abdul Fatawu
3 hours -
Arrest of Techiman nurse is purely political persecution – ‘Ghana Jollof’
4 hours -
Isak nets winner as Liverpool edge Bournemouth
4 hours -
I dare gov’t of Ghana to extradite me; they can never do it – ‘Ghana Jollof’ speaks
4 hours -
Semenyo scores twice as Manchester City beat Sunderland 5-3 in eight-goal thriller
4 hours -
Parliament calls for government-private sector collaboration to improve waste management
4 hours -
Volta Region described as cleanest so far in Parliament’s nationwide sanitation monitoring
4 hours