On Wednesday, February 17, the Public Health Emergency Bill, 2021 passed second reading in the Senate and was referred to its Committee on Primary Health and Communicable Diseases for further legislative action. The bill seeks to repeal the obsolete Quarantine Act 1926 and provide an effective and efficient legal and administrative framework to address challenges from a sudden outbreak of infectious diseases. It also seeks to facilitate the provision of funds and accountability mechanisms to contain the spread of dangerous infectious diseases, as well as prescribe offences and punishments for violations associated with the control and management of such diseases. To this end, the provisions of the bill empowers the President and, in some circumstances, the Governor of a State to declare a place \u201can infected area\u201d and issue appropriate regulations or directives to curb the spread of an infection within Nigeria, and transmission from Nigeria to other parts of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also empowers the President or Governor of a State\nto appoint a special task force to co-ordinate national remedial measures to\naddress the outbreak of an epidemic or a pandemic. In addition, it expands the scope and\ninterpretation of dangerous infectious diseases beyond what is contained in the\nexisting Quarantine Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The provisions of the bill also\nemphasise co-ordination\nand organised national responses during periods of public health emergencies. This\nimplies multi-agency action and distribution of enforcement powers among\nrelevant agencies. The bill also appears to maintain appropriate balance between emergency measures required to be\ntaken by appropriate authorities under any declaration of public health\nemergency and the constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens and the\ngeneral public in the overriding national public health interest. This is closely related to law\nenforcement in times of health emergencies. To this end, the bill provides for mandatory training of security\nofficers responsible for implementation of its provisions. This will contribute\ntowards curbing the highhandedness of security agents in enforcing such laws,\nas evidenced by reports of human right abuses perpetrated by security\nagents in the course of enforcing regulations during the COVID-19 lockdown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Public Health Emergency Bill further seeks\nto provide a legal and institutional framework to impose and implement\nmandatory self-isolation and quarantine of infected persons, as well as\nrestrictions of movement upon the outbreak of a dangerous infectious disease. Confinement\nto a private home or premises is recognised as an option for isolation and\nquarantine. There is also an option for treatment at home. Another\nkey point addressed by the bill is the recognition of the rights and welfare of\nhealthcare providers and support services. <\/em><\/strong>The bill mandates the\nprovision of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), full-life and medical\nliability insurance and special allowance for these categories of persons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Recent developments have highlighted the need for a modern\nand comprehensive legislation to deal with public health issues. It will be\nrecalled that upon the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Nigeria, an\nInfectious Diseases Bill, 2020 introduced in the House of Representatives to\nrepeal the outdated Quarantine Act was heavily criticised for its far-reaching\nand arbitrary provisions. The Public Health Emergency Bill appears to be a\nsignificant improvement from the Infectious Diseases Bill and addresses key\nguiding principles expected of a legislation of this kind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n