By George Ozalla
The Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary), chaired by Senator Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, on Thursday held a public and investigative hearing on several health-related bills before the National Assembly, receiving memoranda and recommendations from stakeholders on measures aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s healthcare system and improving service delivery across public health institutions.
The hearing, held at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, attracted lawmakers, chief executives and representatives of federal health institutions, regulatory agencies, professional bodies, healthcare practitioners, development partners, civil society organisations and other interested stakeholders, who made presentations on the proposed legislations.
The bills, sponsored by different senators, seek to establish new federal health institutions, amend existing laws governing healthcare agencies, strengthen institutional governance, improve healthcare regulation and expand access to quality medical services across the country.
Declaring the hearing open, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, said the exercise was part of the Senate’s commitment to ensuring that health-related legislations benefit from broad stakeholder engagement before they are considered for passage. She assured participants that every memorandum and submission would receive careful attention from the committee.
Banigo said the hearing was intended to ensure that the proposed legislations adequately address the challenges facing the nation’s health sector and respond to the healthcare needs of Nigerians.
Among the organisations that appeared before the committee was the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), which presented its memorandum on the proposed bills. The association urged the committee to carefully consider its submissions and the perspectives of the nursing profession in the legislative process.
A major highlight of the hearing was the presentation by Prof. Asekhame Sonny Isemede, author of Patient Safety and Quality of Care in Nigeria: Challenges and Solutions, who made a passionate case for greater attention to patient safety in Nigeria’s healthcare system.
Prof. Isemede expressed appreciation to the media for the publicity and visibility given to his advocacy on patient safety over the years. He said the encouragement he received through media coverage inspired him to write the book as a contribution towards improving healthcare delivery in the country.
He explained that the publication was written to draw attention to patient safety and quality of care while providing practical solutions to the challenges confronting healthcare institutions in Nigeria.
According to him, improving patient safety does not necessarily require huge financial investments. He maintained that many preventable medical errors and avoidable complications can be reduced through simple measures such as adherence to safety protocols, effective communication among healthcare professionals, continuous training, proper supervision and strict compliance with established standards of care.
He further submitted that quality healthcare should not be assessed solely by the availability of sophisticated equipment but by the ability of health institutions to provide safe, effective, timely and patient-centred care. He urged lawmakers to ensure that patient safety is adequately reflected in the proposed legislations, describing it as a critical component of quality healthcare.
Other stakeholders also presented memoranda on the various bills, making recommendations on healthcare financing, institutional governance, manpower development, regulation of health institutions and improved access to quality medical services.
Following the presentations, members of the committee engaged stakeholders on issues raised in their memoranda, seeking clarifications on specific provisions of the bills and the practical implications of some of the recommendations.
Responding to the presentations, Senator Banigo thanked the stakeholders for their robust contributions and assured them that the committee would carefully study all memoranda and recommendations before presenting its report to the Senate. She said the hearing formed part of the legislative process to ensure that the proposed bills receive comprehensive scrutiny and benefit from expert contributions before consideration for passage.
The public and investigative hearing ended with the committee receiving additional written memoranda from stakeholders, while organisations and institutions that could not make oral presentations were given the opportunity to submit their memoranda for consideration in the committee’s final report.
