Withdraw Insurance Bill - ZCTU
THE Zambia Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the National Health Insurance Bill.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka, ZCTU president Nkole Chishimba said the bill should be withdrawn from Parliament because only the Ministry of Labour and Social security had the mandate of managing social protection systems with specialised institutions.
He said the Congress demanded the withdrawal of the bill so that it could be re allocated to the Ministry of Labour which was mandated to dealt with social protection issues.
“This matter needs to be subjected to vigorous consultations with stakeholders through the tripartite consultative labour council involving the Ministry of Labour, employers and workers,” Mr Nkole said.
He said it was regrettable that the Ministry of Health took the matter to Parliament without consulting major stakeholders, especially workers and employers.
Mr Nkole said ZCTU would like to see an elaborate national health insurance scheme which conformed to specific international standards as guided by International Labour organisation (ILO) recommendations 202 which provided guidance on how countries could implement social protection schemes.
He said there was need for the NHI to be part of the larger social protection package and therefore there was need for the scheme to be regulated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security which handles matters of social protection.
Mr Nkole said it was surprising that the NHI bill was placed under the Ministry of Health.
He said the NHI bill was in fact part of the social protection bill which was currently undergoing consultations but it was surprising that the bill was removed from the social protection bill and taken straight to Parliament.
Mr Nkole said the issue paper which was produced in 2013 by government at a huge cost made recommendations on how best the country could implement a comprehensive social protection system and the removal of the NHI bill from the overall package had puzzled the ZCTU as it was a clear indication that the recommendations of the issue paper were ignored.
“We are disappointed with these developments and it is also sad to note that some of our affiliates are issuing contradictory positions to the congress,” he said.