Kogi State House of Assembly has presented a bill for a law to provide compulsory treatment and care for victims of accidents, gunshot injuries and other matters connected.
Leading a debate on the bill, the member representing Dekina/Biraidu Constituency in Kogi State House of Assembly, Ochidi Shehu Usman said the bill was born out of his concern for the nonchalant attitude of healthcare providers towards accident and gunshot victims in the state.
Citing the news of an Abuja-based victim who was pushed down from a moving vehicle by suspected criminals but allegedly was not attended to by the health facility till she bled to death, Usman explained that the bill, if passed to law will reduce the number of casualties as a result of accidents and gunshots.
”The bill will mandate every person including security agents to attend to accident victims and victims of gunshots without requesting for money or Police report to commence treatment and give adequate attention to the victims before the arrival of their relatives, he said.
“It has been observed with utmost concern that in recent times accident or gunshot victims are not urgently attended to by the Health care institutions for medical attention, hence resulting in the loss of lives because of the delay in accepting the victims or in some cases total refusal”.
“I felt the need for this legal instrument put in place for mandatory enforcement of treatment and care of victims of accident and gunshot injury by our Health Care providers, pending police reports and the arrival of the victim’s relations in order to save lives”.
Usman added that a victim of an accident or gunshot wound must not be subjected to inhuman treatment or torture by any person or authority including the Police or other Security Agencies.
He added that as a way of ensuring that criminals don’t hide under the development to carry out evil acts, Healthcare providers that accept any person with gunshot wounds shall report that fact to the nearest Police Station within two hours of commencement of treatment.
While giving a nod to the bill, the lawmaker representing Ibaji Constituency, Comfort Ojoma explained that she was in a situation where she had to stand as a surety for victims of gunshots and road accidents before they could be treated at the hospital.
She maintained that the current situation in the country requires that medical professionals attend to medical emergencies before asking for questions like police reports or payment for treatment.
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