Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, two bills for the integration of the National Family Planning Board (NFPB) and the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) into the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
The merging of the public bodies into the Ministry will mean a repeal of the acts that were passed for their incorporation, and a transference of their functions, assets, rights, and liabilities to the Ministry.
“The National Family Planning Board will be integrated into the Ministry as a Division called the National Family Planning Services Madam Speaker, while the National Council on Drug Abuse will become a Department of the Ministry of Health & Wellness,” the Minister said.
The integration of the entities is in accord with the Public Sector Transformation Action Plan that outlines the policy reorganisation of the public bodies.
The amalgamation, the Minister says, is expected to improve the nation’s health response.
“Additionally, Madam Speaker, the integration will allow for the achievement of synergy in operations and greater efficiency. At the same time, the integration will see the streamlining of services and eradicating duplication of efforts,” the Minister emphasised.
The National Family Planning Services Division will continue to play a key role in the achievement of sustainable health outcomes among marginalised and vulnerable populations. It will also be instrumental in managing cooperation between the health sector, social services sector and civil society.
At the same time, the NCDA will maintain its core functions of reviewing and monitoring the misuse of drugs, and among other things, undertaking measures for the prevention of drug misuse and dealing with the resulting social problems. It will see an expansion of its mandate toward supporting the nation’s mental health response.
The repeal of the National Council on Drug Abuse Act will result in changes to the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act, whereby any reference to the NCDA would be replaced with the Ministry of Health and Wellness.