Babcock University Professor of Health Law and award-winning author, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, has highlighted the multifaceted impact of legal systems on healthcare delivery. She stressed the need to strengthen judicial and legislative contributions towards enshrining the right to health in the Constitution and other legal instruments of Nigeria.
Professor Onyemelukwe made this charge on Thursday at Babcock University in Ogun State while delivering the 52nd inaugural lecture of the University, from the School of Law and Security Studies, titled: ‘The law as compass, lever or stumbling block? Harnessing the power of law to reify and realise the right to health.’
In the course of the lecture, the law don ─ who is also the 2021 winner of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Prize for Literature for her novel ‘Son of the House’ ─ spoke extensively on the law and the right to health, the Nigerian health landscape, the National Health Act, health security, women’s health, universal health coverage, among others.
Professor Onyemelukwe, who is the managing partner at Health Ethics Law and Consulting (HELC), stressed that the law is a power instrument in health protection regulation and promotion, and that its intervention in health matters is multifaceted, bringing potency to health systems organisation in private and public spaces.
She added that to fully embed and realise the right to health, existing laws must comprehensively address its core principles and the broader social factors influencing health.
“A robust legal framework should prioritise integration and inclusion within health systems, ensuring equitable access for all. However, laws alone are insufficient—effective implementation and enforcement are crucial for translating legal provisions into tangible health benefits,” she said.
The health law professor, while speaking on the law as a compass, lamented that despite the heavy burden of disease in the country, access to quality healthcare remains limited, which negates the idea of a health system that provides, at the minimum, basic coverage for all.
Professor Onyemelukwe, who also doubles as the founder of the Centre for Health Ethics Law and Development (CHELD), noted that the implementation of legal interventions in Nigeria relating to health is an unfinished business. She explained that to achieve greater results in this regard, certain factors should be considered and implemented including payment for health care, improvement in emergency care, improvement in health security, women’s health among others.
The don, however, stated that the law can sometimes be a stumbling block to health, which can be used to perpetrate stigma and discrimination, especially against vulnerable groups, with significant adverse impacts on health.
“There is a need, then, to recognise the imperative to deploy the law, not as a stumbling block to health but as a supportive foundation for achieving the right to health for persons with suicidal and mental illness,” she said.
Professor Onyemelukwe advised that the existing gaps in the existing legal framework implementation, seeking legal accountability through the courts, funding of basic health care, and measuring the impacts of major legal frameworks as they relate to health should be addressed.
In addition to other recommendations, the don emphasized that building momentum for advocacy on the basis of existing law, providing justification for programmes based on existing legislation, and conducting empirical research will lead to further improvement for the realisation of the right to health.
The Chairman and Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Ademola Tayo, in his remarks, stated that inaugural lectures are a rich academic tradition observed in universities across the world.
Vice-Chancellor Tayo noted that Professor Onyemelukwe’s lecture was apt and topical because of the contemporary health situation in the country. He added that the recommendations for the lecture would benefit governments, people of the bench, and other stakeholders in the legal and health professions.
