Parliament has reconsidered the Public Health (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which was returned by President Yoweri Museveni.
While presenting the report of the Committee of Health on reconsideration of the Bill, Dr. Charles Ayume the Chairperson, said they agreed with the President’s concern on the use of the word “vaccination” and not “immunization”.
Dr. Ayume explained that the word immunization and vaccination are used interchangeably and that the President preferred the use of vaccination as opposed to immunization.
The committee had passed a clause in which the destruction of infectious beddings, clothes, and articles would be done upon authorization by the Local Council, to which President Museveni objected. The committee agreed with the President’s recommendation to give the Medical Officer the power to destroy infectious materials.
The committee also agreed with another recommendation to replace the word “Minister responsible for Agriculture” with “Minister responsible for animal and plant health” to cater for diseases originating from animals as well as plants.
President Museveni further recommended that the powers of the Director General of Health Services should be restricted to assigning a vaccinator and not appointing one as mentioned in the bill. He argued that the Director General of Health Services has no powers to appoint staff under the law.
The Public Health (Amendment) Bill seeks to provide for the repeal of obsolete provisions, to revise the fines for offenses committed under the Act, to provide for the repeal of the part on venereal diseases, and to provide for the repeal of references to construction and public sewers, among others.
During the plenary session chaired by Speaker Anita Among, the MPs also passed the Parliamentary Pensions (Amendment) Bill, 2022 after the proposal to have members’ contributions to the fund, was dropped. The President had earlier declined to assent to the bill with an amendment to have government increase the Members of Parliament contribution from 30 to 40 percent.
The Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee chaired by Robinah Rwakoojo, said they examined the recommendation by the President and agreed that there is a need for the Board to appoint an actuary to examine the current and future needs of the scheme in order to ascertain the quantum of the government contribution.
Asuman Basalirwa, the Bugiri Municipality Member of Parliament moved a motion for the House to consider the recommendation by the committee saying the Bill is critical to ensure the welfare of lawmakers after exiting Parliament.URN
