The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has urged the Senate to reject the proposed National Health Facility Regulatory Agency (NHFRA) Bill, warning that creating a new regulatory body could trigger fresh tensions in the health sector and duplicate existing structures.
The call was contained in a letter addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and signed by ACPN National Chairman, Ambrose Ezeh. Titled “Stop the National Health Facility Regulatory Agency Bill in National Interest,” the letter argued that the National Health Act 2014 already provides a legal framework for regulating health facilities and professionals, making the proposed agency unnecessary.
The ACPN maintained that rather than establish another regulatory agency, the Federal Government should focus on implementing the provisions of the National Health Act to address existing gaps in the sector.
The association said healthcare regulation in Nigeria is already handled by statutory professional councils, noting that pharmacy and drug matters fall under the Exclusive Legislative List, while other health professions are regulated by their respective councils.
It added that the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria and the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria already oversee their professions, while state governments regulate hospitals and other health facilities within their jurisdictions.
According to the letter, the proposed NHFRA Bill reflects an earlier attempt to place all health professions under a central regulatory structure dominated by the medical profession.
It said, “For over ten years, it was impossible to have a National Health Act because the first proviso in the draft bill in section 1(I) had posited that there shall be a ‘National Health System which shall Regulate and Control all the health professions.’ The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) stoutly resisted this clause, which was a clever ploy to undermine all the health professions by placing them under the stewardship and control of their counterparts in medicine. This has been crafted in the proposed NHFRA bill in Section 11(6), where the office of the Director-General has been ceded to ONLY Physicians.”
The ACPN recalled that advocacy by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and the Joint Health Sector Union led to an amendment before the National Health Act was passed in 2014, ensuring that all health professions would continue to operate under their existing regulatory laws.
The association argued that the major gap in the current regulatory framework relates to federal tertiary health institutions, including teaching hospitals and federal medical centres, and urged the National Assembly to activate the provisions of the National Health Act establishing a Tertiary Health Facility Commission instead of creating a new agency.
It also called on the Federal Government to strengthen existing regulators, including the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), through improved funding.
“It is our conviction that we must encourage the Federal Government to improve funding of the PCN, NAFDAC and other Professional Regulatory Councils to elevate their statutory outputs and ultimately health outcomes in the public interest. The enabling Acts of Parliament that establish the PCN, NAFDAC other Professional Regulatory Councils are specific laws which cannot be superseded by general laws of any type or nature,” the letter stated.
The ACPN further questioned the composition of the committee that drafted the bill, alleging that physicians made up about 99 per cent of its membership.
It said, “Nothing buttresses the viewpoint that this is an agenda of suppression more than the fact that membership of the originating Committee to superintend the proposed NHFRA was made up of physicians to the extent of 99 per cent, which in itself spells doom for the Health Sector because inputs accrued from only one profession in a multidisciplinary sector.”
Warning against the proposed legislation, the association said pursuing the bill could disrupt the relative peace in the health sector.
“The National Assembly and Federal Government should leverage on the existing status-quo that has ensured some relative peace in the Health Sector by jettisoning any move that will stir the hornet’s nest, as any agenda bordering on a centralised Health Regulatory Facility Agency will be grounded in immediate suspicion which will jeopardise our fragile peace and this will definitely be resisted by stakeholders,” it said.
The ACPN reaffirmed its commitment to the growth of Nigeria’s health sector but insisted that reforms should be guided by justice and fairness for all healthcare professionals. It also urged the National Assembly and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to review the proposed legislation in the national interest.
