By Ralph Chris-Izokpu
The federal government on Thursday launched the Environmental Health Practice and Standards Monitoring Committee (EHPSMC) regulating guideline.
Unveiling the document at the public presentation in Abuja, the Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammed Abubakar said the event marks another mile stone in the history of Environmental Health Practice in Nigeria.
According to him, “Since the beginning of this administration priority has been given to development of Environmental health in the country through different intervention by the Federal Government.
The minister said that the Buhari administration in 2016 launched the reviewed National Environmental Health Practice Regulations after nine years of its existence.
“The introduction of the document had contributed in no small measure to improvement of Environmental Health services among Nigeria populace.
“To give credence to the enabling law eştablishing the Council, it had been observed that government need to strengthening the enforcement area of at service delivery points across the nation.
“However, since the inauguration of Monitoring Committee in 2012, the instrument of operation was confronted with so many challenges that incidentally affected the operation of the Committee.
“The document we are presenting today is one instrument that will promote the operations of the Council for efficient and effective service delivery, even though it is long overdue. Attast we are gathered here today to witness the presentation of the enforcement guidelines.
“This guideline is a tool to provide road map for environmental Health Practice and Standards Monitoring Committee, members in discharging their responsibilities. It set out the procedures of operations, reporting format as well as all other requirements, necessary for the attainment of its set goals and objectives to ensure and regulations of the Council compliance with laid down rules.
“I wish to state emphatically at this juncture that Nigeria has come of age, we must not lag behind in global best practice for environmental health with the current global challenges of emerging and rè-emerging diseases like Lassa Fever and coronavirus.
“The Environmental Health Practitioners are expected to live up to expectation by adhering strictly to ethical Code of Conduct of the profession. With the presentation of this document today, the stage is now set to enforce the full weight of the law on any erring practitioner.
He warned defaulters of the Council’s enforcement procedures to buckle up as the Council will go all out to see that practitioners at Federal, State, Local Government including Private Sectors abide by the rules of the profession.
He said, “the Monitoring Committee is at liberty to visit any Environmental Health Service Delivery point with or without notice and take appropriate action as contained in the guidelines. Therefore, practitioners are enjoined to conduct themselves in more professional manner and be guided by the ethical consideration.
“To the quacks operating at all levels, it will no longer be business as usual. all steceholder at the
He also solicited the cooperation of State, Local Government, and Private Sector, including stakeholders in the implementation of the
guidelines.
“The provision of modern practice equipment, utility vehicles and improvement of working environment at Service Delivery Point will automatically boost the morale of Environmental Health Practitioners, which is pivotal to taming, the environment.
He said, as part of the Next Level agenda, the administration is committed to better the lives of every Nigerian by ensuring that, unfavourable health indices hitherto known with the Country will be a thing of the past.
“As government is committed to improving the state of the environment because most of the disease burden of the country hinges on low standards of our porving environment.
Earlier in his welcome address, the representive of the Registrar, EHORECON, Dr. Baba Mohammed Yakubu said the public presentation of the guidelines will assist the council in regulating the practice as service for all.
He used the occasion to called on the committee to look at the guideline and ahead strickly to the code and the ethics as applicable to the guideline.
