Appolonia Adeyemi 
…calls for strengthening of existing structures, realistic sickle-cell research strategy
The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has firmly opposed ongoing attempts by various groups to create new health-sector commissions through amendments to the National Health Act (NH-Act) 2014, describing the proposals as unnecessary, legally redundant, economically unrealistic and misaligned with Nigeria’s current health-system challenges.
The association made its position known after participating in two recent public hearings—first at the House of Representatives on November 18, 2025, and later at the Senate on November 24, 2025.
The ACPN highlighted its view in a position paper titled ‘Shun This Unnecessary Bureaucracies’ and signed by the National Chairman of ACPN, Ambrose Ezeh and the National Secretary of the association, Omokhafe Ashore.
At those sessions, stakeholders pushed for the establishment of a Surrogacy Commission, a National Accreditation and Standards Commission, a Tertiary Health Institutions Commission, and the creation of Sickle Cell Research and Therapy Centres across the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
However, the ACPN argued that these proposals overlooked existing legal frameworks and Nigeria’s harsh economic and governance realities. According to the association, the attempt to carve out three new commissions from structures already defined in the NH-Act 2014 is “unnecessary from a legal perspective.”
The Act already provides a statutory body—the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee (NTHISC)—which is empowered to regulate and oversee tertiary health institutions, including monitoring standards, accreditation, and enforcement of quality controls.
“What is missing,” the ACPN stressed, “is not the legal framework but the inadequate oversight by the National Assembly,” particularly in relation to poor budgeting and lack of financial support needed for the NTHISC to fulfill its mandate. Instead of creating new bureaucracies, the ACPN urged lawmakers to strengthen existing structures by ensuring robust annual allocations that enable regulators to function effectively.
On the proposed National Accreditation and Quality Control Commission and Tertiary Health Institutions Commission, the ACPN argued that such bodies duplicate the responsibilities already vested in professional regulatory councils. The NH-Act 2014 explicitly forbids interference with existing professional regulatory laws, which makes the proposal both unnecessary and contradictory.
The association emphasised that registrar/CEOs of these councils already serve on the NTHISC, providing the professional oversight proponents of the new commissions claim to seek. The ACPN also addressed the highly publicised push to establish seven Sickle Cell Research and Therapy Centres nationwide.
While acknowledging that sickle cell disease—most prevalent among people of African descent—poses a major public health concern in Nigeria, the association warned that the proposal was “grandiose, unrealistic, and economically imprudent.” Nigeria already hosts two major research institutions: the Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) in Abuja and the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in Lagos.
Yet, these centres are chronically underfunded. According to Ezeh and Ashore, NIPRD, for example, receives less than N20 million monthly for both recurrent and capital expenditure—an amount the ACPN described as grossly inadequate. “It is a wild-goose chase to expect adequate funding for seven new sickle cell research centres when existing institutions cannot execute their mandates due to poor resource allocation,” the association argued.
In light of these absurdities and the acute funding crisis in the health sector, proposals must be grounded in public interest and realistic economic assessment
They further dismissed the propose organogram for the centres—which includes positions such as Chief Medical Director and Head of Clinical Services—as “unprecedented in international best practices” and “extremely ridiculous” for a research-focused institution.
Instead, the ACPN recommended a more realistic strategy: the establishment of one central National Sickle Cell Research Centre, supported by therapy, advocacy and counselling units within the 73 federal health institutions (FHIs) across the country.
This model, the association said, would expand access to sickle-cell care without creating bloated administrative structures or diverting scarce resources.
The ACPN further criticised what it described as deep-seated governance failures within the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (FMoH&SW), noting the non-constitution of governing boards for 73 FHIs, refusal to inaugurate boards of 13 professional regulatory councils, and widespread administrative paralysis across many health-sector MDAs.
These failures, they argued, have worsened industrial action, including the ongoing strike by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), whose members constitute 85 per cent of the health workforce and have reportedly gone unpaid for 12 years.
“In light of these absurdities and the acute funding crisis in the health sector, proposals must be grounded in public interest and realistic economic assessment,” ACPN stated. Moving forward, the association urged the National Assembly to “polish its appendages” by prioritising reforms that improve the efficiency of existing institutions rather than multiplying agencies that will further drain Nigeria’s near-static health budget.
According to the ACPN, only when the establishment of new bureaucracies becomes absolutely unavoidable should lawmakers consider them— emphasising that what Nigeria needs now is better leadership, adequate funding, strengthened oversight, and functional regulatory systems, not additional layers of administration.
