The Yobe State House of Assembly has adopted the report of its ad-hoc committee on a bill seeking to repeal and re-enact anti-stigmatization law to provide compulsory premarital tests of hemoglobin genotype and viral hepatitis in the state.
The House adopted the report after extensive deliberations on the recommendations of the committee by members.
Shedding more light, the chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Hon. Kachalla Maina, said the bill, when passed into law, will prevent the spread of sickle cell disease and hepatitis among intending couples.
Hon. Maina said statistics have shown that Nigeria has forty million people living with sickle cell disease, while Yobe State has the highest number of victims, adding that the situation needs legislative action.
The chairman added that the bill has provided two years’ imprisonment or a two hundred thousand Naira fine to any Imam or pastor who conducts marriage without a hemoglobin genotype test result from an approved healthcare facility.
According to him, the bill has also provided that any health practitioner who connives with an intending couple or guardians to present a fake result should be jailed for three years or pay a five hundred thousand Naira fine.
The lawmaker said the House stressed the need for the executive arm of government to direct the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to provide the teaching of sickle cell disease in primary and post-primary schools and reflect genotype results on primary school certificates.
Presiding over the sitting, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Chiroma Buba Mashio, commended the committee for presenting a comprehensive report that would assist in preventing the spread of sickle cell disease and viral hepatitis in the state.
