The Senate at its plenary session of Wednesday, 26 January 2022, passed the Bill seeking to the repeal the Quarantine Act, 2004 and enact the National Health Emergency Bill, 2022 (SB 413). The Bill seeks to provide a national framework for the control of outbreaks of infectious diseases in Nigeria.
Presenting the report of the Committee on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases, Sen. Chukwuka Utazi (PDP; Enugu) stated that the Bill which comprise of 8 Parts, 60 Clauses and 2 Schedules was deliberated upon by stakeholders at a public hearing conducted on Thursday, 6 May 2021, following from which the Committee made insertions for 13 new clauses, amendments to 6 Clauses and retained others.
Speaking on the new insertions by the Committee, Sen. Utazi highlighted these Clauses to include:
- Clause 4 which deals with Public Health Emergency Area
- Clause 7 which deals with Procedures for Terminating a Public Emergency Order
- Clause 8 which deals with Responsibilities of State Government During Health Emergency
- Clause 9 which deals with Designation of Isolation Centers, Quarantine Stations and Make-Shift Hospitals
- Clause 14 which deals with Notification of Infectious Animal Disease
- Clause 21 which deals with Isolation of Certain Persons and Animals, and provides for a change of the appropriate authority from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to the Task Force
- Clause 24 which deals with Information Required to Support Contact Tracing Measures
- Clause 28 which deals with Obligation to Minimize the Risk of infection
- Clause 30 which deals with Implementation of Public Health Emergency Measures at Points of Entry and Exit
- Clause 31 which deals with Protection for International Travel and Trade
- Clause 39 which deals with Enforcement of Physical Distancing and Other Non-Pharmaceutical Health Measures
- Clause 44 which deals with Rights of Users Suspected of Having an Infectious Disease
- Clause 52 which deals with Prosecution of Defaulters, etc.
On the amendments, Sen. Utazi mentioned that the Committee amended Clauses 2,5, 6, 15(b), 18(1) and 42 (1) while retaining others. He further stated that the intent of the Bill is laudable and will allow for timely responses to the treatment and prevention of the spread of infectious disease.
It is expected that the Bill which has now been passed by the Senate, will be transmitted to the House of Representatives for Concurrence.
