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… Warn Against Duplication In Sector Reforms, Call For Stronger Oversight
CHIOMA UMEHA
LAGOS – The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has urged the National Assembly to halt ongoing moves to create new health-related commissions, describing the proposals as wasteful, duplicative, and out of touch with current economic realities.
Public Hearings On Proposed Commissions In a statement signed by National Chairman, Ambrose Ezeh, and National Secretary, Omokhafe Ashore, the association faulted deliberations at recent public hearings, first at the House of Representatives on November 18, 2025, and later at the Senate on November 24, 2025, where lawmakers entertained bills seeking to establish a Surrogacy Commission, a National Accreditation and Standards Commission, and a Tertiary Health Institutions Commission through amendments to the National Health Act (NH-Act) 2014.
Concerns Over Duplication Of Mandates
The statement partly reads: “The ACPN has been privileged to observe recent public hearings at the House of Representatives on November 18, 2025, and at the Senate on November 24, 2025, where attempts were made by some groups to establish new commissions. These include a Surrogacy Commission, National Accreditation and Standards Commission, as well as a Tertiary Health Institutions Commission via amendments of the National Health Act 2014.
“At a Senate hearing on November 24, 2025, there was yet another vigorous attempt to create Sickle Cell Research and Therapy Centres in the six geo-political zones and the FCT, Abuja, reflections that appear too grandiose relative to our present economic and political realities.”
Existing Structures Under NH-Act
The pharmacists noted that the mandates being proposed for the new bodies are already fully covered under the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee (NTHISC), a statutory structure created by the NH-Act to oversee organ procurement and trafficking regulations, surrogacy controls, accreditation, and quality standards in tertiary health facilities.
Call For Stronger Oversight, Not New Bureaucracy
“The attempt to create three commissions from the legal structures established in NH-Act 2014 is unnecessary from a legal perspective because all endeavours pertaining to regulation of organ trafficking and procurement, surrogacy, and accreditation of tertiary hospital facilities are already lawfully vested in the NTHISC. What is missing has been adequate oversight responsibilities by the National Assembly, which ought to insist on providing a robust budget that positions the NTHISC to carry out its statutory responsibilities,” the statement said.
Accreditation Already Covered By Regulatory Councils
According to the ACPN, no new bureaucracy is needed; instead, the National Assembly must strengthen oversight and ensure adequate budgetary support for the NTHISC to carry out its legal responsibilities.
The association also dismissed calls for a new National Accreditation and Quality Control body, arguing that accreditation and quality monitoring for all health facilities remain the exclusive purview of Nigeria’s professional regulatory councils, whose registrar-chief executives already serve on the NTHISC. They stressed that Section 1(1) of the NHAct expressly prohibits interference with existing professional regulatory laws.
Unrealistic Proposal For Sickle Cell Centres
The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has reacted to Senate discussions on establishing Sickle Cell Research and Therapy Centres nationwide, describing the proposal as well-intentioned but cautioning that its expansive scale is impractical.
“The attempt to create a Sickle Cell Research and Therapy Centre appears laudable if grounded in modesty and reality. Sickle cell disease is peculiar to the black race, and the prevalence rate is understandably highest in Nigeria. A proposal to set up seven research and therapy centres at once is, however, both preposterous and unrealistic.”
Existing Institutions Underfunded
Nigeria, they noted, already hosts major research institutions such as the Nigeria Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), both of which lack sufficient funding to deliver on their mandates. NIPRD, they added, operates on less than N20 million in monthly recurrent and capital allocations, far below what would be required to support seven new regional centres. “It is therefore a wild goose chase to expect appropriate funding for seven sickle cell research centres at once,” ACPN said.
Criticism Of Proposed Structure
The association also criticised the proposed structure for the centres, which includes positions such as Chief Medical Directors and Heads of Clinical Services, as inconsistent with global research models and excessively bureaucratic. Instead, the ACPN recommended establishing a single national sickle cell research hub, complemented by therapy units across the 73 Federal Health Institutions (FHIs), to enhance counselling, treatment, and public awareness without creating unnecessary administrative layers.
Governance Failures At Federal Ministry Of Health
The pharmacists further decried what they described as deteriorating governance at the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), alleging stalled appointments, non-reconstitution of the boards of the 73 FHIs, and refusal to inaugurate professional regulatory councils.
JOHESU Strike Highlights Systemic Neglect
They pointed to the ongoing strike by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), which represents more than 85 per cent of health-care workers, as evidence of systemic neglect. The strike, which began on November 15, 2025, has reportedly crippled federal health institutions nationwide due to unresolved wage arrears dating back 12 years.
ACPN Urges Pragmatic Reforms
Given the financial constraints affecting the sector, the ACPN urged lawmakers to propose only reforms that are both feasible and necessary. The association called on the National Assembly to “polish its appendages” and avoid expanding bureaucratic structures that could further burden an already strained healthcare system.
Recommendations
“The other leg of the challenge is that the proposed bureaucratic structure of running a research centre with an organogram prescribing Chief Medical Directors, Heads of Clinical Services, and such designations is unprecedented in international best practices and therefore looks extremely ridiculous. What looks pragmatic is to set up one central sickle cell research centre and establish more therapy centres in the 73 Federal Health Institutions to improve advocacy, counselling, and treatment of Nigerians rather than creating new jobs for the boys in an already battle-weary health sector.
“In all of the various dispensations at both the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Health, many players did not reckon with the despicable situation of healthcare funding and compromised leadership of the incumbent Physician-Ministers at the Federal Ministry of Health. The FMoH and its MDAs are at the lowest ebb in terms of governance and fruitfulness in contemporary times.
“This is why we see unpalatable situations including non-reconstitution of the boards of management of the 73 FHIs, refusal to inaugurate the boards of the 13 professional regulatory councils in the health sector, and indeed the boards of many MDAs, including some with floating chairmen appointed for over one year.
“Members of JOHESU, who constitute over 85 per cent of the healthcare workforce, have been on strike since November 15, 2025, with a debilitating paralysis of the FHIs because of unpaid entitlements for 12 years. The hapless ministers in charge of the FMoH only activate devices to superimpose their colleagues to dominate other health workers with newly created benefits of oppression.
“One of the challenges, despite the highlighted absurdities, is a paucity of funds to support needed healthcare initiatives, which must therefore compel a very realistic initiation of proposals in public interest. Finally, the ACPN urges the National Assembly to polish its appendages, canvassing new bureaucracies only when it becomes obviously inevitable to drive a new era of success stories,” ACPN added.
