Parliament passes College of Physicians Bill

Parliament has passed a bill for the establishment of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons as a post-graduate medical college.The college will develop and oversee a structured postgraduate training programme in various medical and surgical specialities and, in the process, produce a critical mass of specialists in those specialities to serve in the regions and districts.

It is expected that the college will make specialist services in medicine and surgery readily available and accessible to the ordinary citizenry by placing them at their doorstep. It will also assist in reducing the patient — doctor ratio to an appreciable level.

By training specialists locally, the foreign exchange expended on their training abroad will be saved. Besides, the availability of specialists, and hopefully the requisite facilities in the country, will minimise the need for citizens to spend huge sums of money to receive specialist treatment abroad.

The memorandum accompanying the bill said the establishment of the college will also save the country foreign exchange, since non-Ghanaians in the sub-region may seek specialist training in the college.In a brief remark for the adjournment of the House, the Speaker, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, urged the leadership of the House to maintain the level of consultation to remove public acrimony about the House.

Mr Ala Adjetey admonished the public to offer suggestions that will enrich democratic governance in the country. The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, described the meeting as fruitful and expressed the hope that the Minority will continue to offer the same level of co-operation in finding solutions to national problems.

On his part, the Minority Leader, Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin, gave assurance that the Minority will continue to co-operate with the government to find solutions to the country’s problems.

The House also approved $11.24 million to finance the Rural Enterprises Project, request for exemptions in respect of the Sekondi-Takoradi water supply rehabilitation project, and exemptions on the rehabilitation and distribution improvement of the Western Accra Area and Weija Remedial Works contract.