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By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has cautioned the National Assembly against moves to create multiple new health commissions through proposed amendments to the National Health Act (NH-Act) 2014.
In a statement signed by its National Chairman, Pharm. Ambrose Igwekamma Ezeh (MAW), and National Secretary, Pharm. Omokhafe Ashore (FPSN), the association described the proposals as “legally unnecessary, economically unrealistic, and administratively wasteful.”
The warning follows public hearings held on November 18 in the House of Representatives and November 24 in the Senate, where various interest groups pushed for the establishment of a Surrogacy Commission, a National Accreditation and Standards Commission, a Tertiary Health Institutions Commission, and seven Sickle Cell Research and Therapy Centres nationwide.
According to ACPN, these proposals merely duplicate structures already defined in the National Health Act. The association stressed that the Act created the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee (NTHISC), the statutory body responsible for regulating tertiary hospitals, accrediting health facilities, and enforcing standards on organ procurement and trafficking.
“The attempt to create three Commissions from legal structures already established in the NH-Act 2014 is unnecessary,” the association said. “Regulation of organ trafficking, surrogacy, and accreditation of Tertiary Hospital Facilities is lawfully vested in the NTHISC.”
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The pharmacists argued that the National Assembly should focus on funding and strengthening existing agencies, rather than multiplying bureaucratic institutions. They noted that the legislature has failed to adequately supervise the health sector or provide a robust budget to enable the NTHISC to function effectively.
ACPN also criticised the proposal to establish seven Sickle Cell Research and Therapy Centres, calling it “preposterous and unrealistic.” It highlighted chronic underfunding of existing research bodies—stating, for instance, that the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) receives less than ₦20 million monthly in recurrent and capital funding. The group recommended setting up one central research hub supported by therapy services across Nigeria’s 73 Federal Health Institutions.
Beyond the legislative proposals, ACPN raised concern over what it described as systemic governance failures at the Federal Ministry of Health, including non-reconstitution of governing boards in all 73 Federal Health Institutions, failure to inaugurate boards of 13 professional regulatory councils, dormant boards in several MDAs, and critical vacancies left unfilled for more than a year.
These failures, the group said, contribute to the ongoing JOHESU strike—which has paralysed services in Federal Health Institutions since November 15, 2025—stemming from 12-year unpaid entitlements and alleged discriminatory practices.
With Nigeria’s constrained health budget, ACPN urged lawmakers to avoid expanding the sector’s bureaucracy without clear necessity.
“One of the challenges, despite the highlighted absurdities, is a paucity of funds to support needed healthcare initiatives. This must compel very realistic proposals in public interest.”
The association concluded with a pointed message to legislators:
“The ACPN urges the National Assembly to polish its appendages, such that we canvass new bureaucracies only when it becomes obviously inevitable to drive a new era of success stories.”
