• Pharmacists petition Senate, oppose NHFRA bill
• ‘Legislation will address patient safety gaps’

Stakeholders are divided over the proposed National Health Facility Regulatory Agency (NHFRA) Bill, with arguments centring on whether the legislation will strengthen healthcare delivery or create another layer of regulation in an already complex sector.
  
While the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has urged the National Assembly to suspend consideration of the bill, describing it as unnecessary and capable of reviving professional tensions, promoters of the legislation argue that Nigeria lacks a comprehensive framework for regulating healthcare facilities and ensuring patient safety.
 
The controversy has brought issues of regulatory efficiency, patient protection and professional representation to the fore, although both sides agree that provisions restricting the leadership of the proposed agency to medical doctors should be reviewed.
  
In a petition to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, the ACPN called for the immediate suspension of the proposed legislation, arguing that the National Health Act 2014 already provides adequate legal backing for regulating healthcare facilities.
  
The petition, titled “Stop the National Health Facility Regulatory Agency (NHFRA) Bill in National Interest” and signed by the association’s National Chairman, Ambrose Ezeh, warned that establishing another federal regulatory agency could lead to duplication, increased bureaucracy and renewed disputes among healthcare professionals.
  
Ezeh urged the National Assembly and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to undertake a comprehensive review of the proposal and discontinue further legislative action.
  
The association argued that Nigeria already has statutory bodies regulating healthcare professionals and products, including the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, and Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.
  
It maintained that the real regulatory gap exists within federal tertiary health institutions, including teaching hospitals and Federal Medical Centres, and called for the activation of the Tertiary Health Facility Commission already provided for under the National Health Act.
  
The pharmacists also raised concerns over a provision reserving the position of Director-General of the proposed agency for medical doctors, warning that such a clause could deepen professional rivalry within the health sector.
  
However, Chairman of the NHFRA Establishment Committee, Richardson Ajayi, defended the bill, arguing that existing regulatory structures mainly focus on professionals and medical products, while the facilities where patients receive care remain largely without a unified national safety framework.
  
Ajayi said unsafe operating theatres, poor infection control systems, faulty medical equipment, inadequate oxygen facilities and unregulated clinics continue to expose Nigerians to avoidable risks because healthcare facilities are not subjected to consistent national licensing, inspection and monitoring.
  
He explained that while existing agencies perform important functions, none has the statutory responsibility to regulate healthcare facilities as institutions.
  
According to him, professional competence and quality medicines alone cannot guarantee patient safety if the environment where care is provided fails to meet minimum standards.
  
Ajayi rejected the argument that the National Health Act 2014 already provides sufficient regulation, saying the law establishes a broad framework for the health system but does not create a functional national licensing and inspection system for facilities.
  
He said Nigeria currently lacks a central database of healthcare facilities, regular inspection schedules, publicly available quality assessments and a national authority empowered to sanction or close facilities that fail to meet safety requirements.
  
He added that frequent anti-quackery operations across states show that regulators often intervene only after patients have suffered harm.
  
Responding to the claim that the regulatory challenge is limited to federal tertiary institutions, Ajayi pointed to the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee, inaugurated in 2023, as evidence that government recognises the need for institutional regulation.
  
However, he noted that the committee’s mandate covers only teaching hospitals and Federal Medical Centres, leaving private, primary and secondary healthcare facilities outside its scope.
  
According to Ajayi, this is a major concern because private healthcare providers account for a significant share of healthcare delivery in Nigeria, while many Nigerians pay directly for medical services from their personal resources.
  
He argued that effective regulation of these facilities is critical because they serve the majority of patients.
  
Ajayi also dismissed concerns that the proposed agency would interfere with state government powers, explaining that the NHFRA would only establish national minimum safety standards while allowing states to continue regulating facilities within their jurisdictions.
  
He cited the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and existing state-level regulatory frameworks as examples of how federal and state institutions can work together.
  
While supporting the bill, Ajayi acknowledged that the provision restricting the Director-General position to medical doctors should be amended.
  
He proposed that leadership should be based on competence rather than professional affiliation and recommended broader representation of pharmacists, nurses, laboratory scientists, radiographers and other health professionals on the governing board.
  
Ajayi warned that allowing professional disagreements to derail the legislation would prolong existing risks to patients, urging lawmakers to improve the bill rather than discard it.
  
If enacted, he said the NHFRA would establish minimum safety standards for hospitals, clinics, laboratories and diagnostic centres, creating a coordinated framework to ensure healthcare facilities meet basic requirements before providing services.

He stressed that the debate should ultimately focus beyond professional interests, arguing that Nigerians deserve confidence that every healthcare facility they visit meets minimum standards required to protect their lives.