IPNews-Monrovia: President George Weah has submitted to members of the House of Representatives for enactment during its seating.

Revision of  public health law of Liberia comes amidst sustained fight of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chapter 51.7 of the 1976 public health law of Liberia states that “amendments, except as provided in section 51.24, when an application for amendment of a vital statistics report is approved, a single line shall be drawn through the information subject to amendment and the correct information shall be inserted immediately above it.

The report shall be marked to show that it is amended and the name of the person approving the amendment and the date thereof shall be noted on the report. When the name of a person is changed pursuant to court order, the new name shall be similarly inserted on the report together with a statement that the change of name is by court order and the date of the order.”

In his communication, President Weah said titled 33 of the public health law of Liberia, as accepted on July 16, 1976 has a life span of over 42 years, and as such, it does not reflect current days health realities.

Providing justification for the enactment of the new public health law, President Weah said the 1976 health law does not address new and emerging public health challenges, such as emergency treatment, discrimination, mental health, nutrition, reproductive health rights, regulation of marketing of health products for infants and young children.

Others are zoonotic diseases, non-communicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance, clinical trials and complementary and alternative medicine, adding “this has led to recent legislative enactments to either amend or repeal certain portion of the law, leaving parts of the public health law in separate documents,” the President said in his communication.”

The Liberian leader said the intent of the new public health law of Liberia as revised 2020 is to address all of the challenges as mentioned supra, including collating and integrating the separate laws governing the public health systems, with the realization that a unified public health system is necessary in ensuring that all citizens and residents of the republic have equal access to quality health services.

“Honorable Speaker, I trust that the Legislature will enact into law this important legislation in support of providing better health services to our people,” the president said.