NCDC and Partners Launch Guide to Improve Public Health Laws in States

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), alongside Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL), has released a new guide to help Nigerian states improve their public health laws.

The Nigeria Public Health Legal Reform Guide was launched on Wednesday in Abuja.

This guide gives states a clear way to spot gaps in their current laws. It also helps them create necessary legal changes and understand the processes needed to make these changes happen.

At the launch, NCDC Director-General, Jide Idris, who was represented by Everistus Aniaku, Deputy Director and Head of the Subnational Readiness Strengthening Division, explained that the guide came from lessons learned during recent public health emergencies.

“Recent public health emergencies have reinforced a critical lesson: effective public health action depends not only on strong institutions, skilled personnel, and adequate resources, but also on clear, modern, and enabling laws,” Mr Idris said during his speech.

He continued, “Where mandates, powers, and coordination arrangements are unclear, delays in decision-making can occur, with serious consequences for lives, livelihoods, and national security.”

The NCDC DG mentioned that the guide aims to help states update their public health laws to keep up with new disease threats, changes in institutions, technology progress, and Nigeria’s commitments under the International Health Regulations (2005).

He called on state governments, Houses of Assembly, Ministries of Health and Justice, public health bodies, and development partners to take charge of the guide and turn its advice into real reforms.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, represented by Piribonimibo Harry, Assistant Chief State Counsel in the Federal Ministry of Justice, also spoke about the importance of law in public health preparedness.

Fagbemi stated that public health security needs strong legal frameworks at both federal and state levels.

“The law provides the authority for public institutions to act, defines institutional mandates and responsibilities, establishes mechanisms for coordination, protects individual and community rights, and provides the foundation upon which public resources and governmental powers may be lawfully deployed,” he stated.

He praised the NCDC’s Subnational Legal Reform Programme for bringing together state Ministries of Health and Justice, legislatures, public health institutions, and other stakeholders to review existing laws and support state-led reforms.

Nanlop Ogbureke, the Executive Director of RTSL, mentioned that the launch builds on work that started with a 2019 national legal assessment. This assessment showed the need for deeper legal evaluations and reforms at the state level.

Ogbureke said the assessment highlighted shared health responsibilities across Nigeria’s three tiers of government and the need for legal frameworks.

She explained that the partnership with the NCDC has involved State Ministries of Health and Justice, State Houses of Assembly, public health institutions, and others in reviewing existing laws, spotting gaps, and developing reforms.

According to Ogbureke, the new guide is significant because it turns those experiences into a practical resource. It gives governments a step-by-step approach from legal assessment to reform and, finally, to implementation.

She stressed that public health legal reform needs the input of health professionals, policymakers, legislators, regulators, communities, and other stakeholders.

Ogbureke also noted that some states have started making progress in creating new health security laws. Still, there is a need to speed up such reforms across the country.

She pointed out the upcoming World Bank Health Security Programme as a chance to enhance public health legal reforms at the state level. She said being legally prepared is key to strengthening health security systems.

“Our collective responsibility is to ensure that it becomes more than a publication on our shelves. We must use it, adapt it, share its lessons, and support states and institutions to turn its guidance into stronger laws, stronger institutions, and better public health outcomes,” she added.

The guide helps states go from identifying weaknesses in their laws to making and applying reforms.

A look at the guide shows that the reform process has five main steps: legal assessment, validation, drafting, stakeholder review and consensus building, and executive and legislative engagement.

It also provides practical tools like a Subnational Legal Assessment Tool, a Legal Mapping Tool, a Model Public Health Security Bill, Guiding Questions for Drafting Public Health Laws, and a Gender Gap Assessment Tool.

The need for this guide arises partly from gaps found in Nigeria’s Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of its ability to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats.

Nigeria did its first JEE in 2017 and a second one in 2023. Among the areas evaluated were legal tools. The 2017 evaluation pointed out the need to improve laws, rules, and policies to support the implementation of the International Health Regulations at all government levels.

Although Nigeria has made progress with new laws like the NCDC Act 2018, the 2023 JEE revealed that more work is needed, especially at the state level.

The guide noted that some states are still using old public health laws from decades ago, before current systems and practices became essential for health security. These include Emergency Operations Centres, electronic disease surveillance, modern laboratory systems, data protection, and One Health coordination.

The COVID-19 pandemic also highlighted these gaps, raising concerns about institutional powers, disease reporting, data sharing, movement restrictions, coordination, and emergency funding.

The NCDC stated that the guide was created from years of collaboration with states, rather than being just a theoretical idea.

According to the guide’s overview, the NCDC, through its Legal Unit and with Resolve to Save Lives, has worked with states to review their laws, identify gaps, validate findings, and support reforms.

The methods and tools have helped create model public health laws for Kano and Nasarawa states.

The document also mentioned that Kaduna, Kano, and Jigawa states have passed new public health laws, while other states are at various stages of reform.

Fagbemi said this experience shows how important it is for federal and state cooperation in strengthening public health systems.

He urged government bodies to see legal reform as a continuous responsibility instead of only acting when a crisis shows weaknesses.

“Legal reform should not be regarded as an occasional exercise undertaken only when a crisis exposes deficiencies in our laws. It must become an integral part of institutional governance,” he stated.