Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL), an NGO and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), have trained more than 30 legal practitioners on health security legal framework for epidemic preparedness in Nigeria.
The Senior Legal Adviser, RTSL, Mr Cedric Aperce, made this known during a three-day Training of Trainers for Nigerian Legal Officers on Monday in Nasarawa state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the training was in recognition of the essential need for capacity building in health security as revealed by Nigeria’s 2023 Joint External Evaluation.
According to Aperce, the International Health Regulations, imposed on Nigeria some obligations needed to be embodied into the national laws and regulations.
‘The NCDC has been leading the way with the support of RTSL to develop new legislations at the federal and subnational levels to give effect to these obligations.
‘At the end of the day, this will better prepare the country for responding and preventing disease threats and protecting Nigeria
ns.
‘In 2019, there was a review of the law of the federation with regards to health security and there are a number of areas like surveillance, responsiveness that are not regulated.
‘Since 2019 Nigeria has been working hard to improve its existing laws and has been issuing new regulations and presenting new bills to the National Assembly to improve and support a better health security in the country ,’ he said
According to the Legal Adviser of NCDC, Safiya Musa, said the critical role of legal officers in safeguarding public health cannot be overstated and it becomes more compelling during public health events.
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Musa Represented by Amira Abubakar, Assistant Legal Adviser NCDC,said that such events have consistently highlighted the intricate interplay between public health imperatives and legal frameworks.
‘ As legal officers entrusted with upholding justice and promoting the rule of law, our role in interpretin
g and implementing public health laws has never been more crucial.
‘Nigeria, like many nations, faces unique public health challenges that demand a robust legal framework to protect its citizens from infectious disease outbreaks with cholera currently topping the list to environmental health hazards and regulatory compliance.
‘The spectrum of issues we deal with requires a nuanced understanding of both national and international legal standards.
‘This training aims to equip you with the necessary tools and knowledge to navigate these complexities effectively,”she said
Musa said that public health law was a new field in Nigeria,as a lot of lawyers in Nigeria were more accustomed to the traditional court practices but with NCDC introducing public health legal preparedness to the space it was a step in the right direction.
She said that the Ebola and COVID-19 pandemics revealed the importance of a legal framework in Nigeria because with it, there would be guiding laws on what to do.
‘With this training, t
he lawyers would be equipped with drafting regulations to control public activities that promote diseases like cholera among others in the country.”
Musa added that if laws like the NCDC Act, the Public Health Emergency bill, the National Health Act were amended, Nigeria would stand a better chance at disease control.
Mr Emem Udoh, Legal Adviser, RTSL, Nigeria, said the training was part of the organisation’s support to the Federal Government and Nigeria as a country towards improving the legal framework for health security.
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‘For RTSL,we have two critical areas we support in the legal work.First is to try to see how we can support countries to improve their legal framework and then secondly to support legal capacity building.
‘So this training is aimed at legal capacity building and we are working with more than 30 legal officers from various MDAs in the country who are implementing the international health regulation.
‘From what we
saw in COVID-19 in 2019,2020,we felt that legal capacity should be built and this is right way to make countries legally prepared for future public health emergencies or pandemic,”he said
Some of the participants at the training commended RTSL and NCDC for the initiative adding that the training would be cascaded down.
Mr Usman Adamu from Jigawa State Ministry of Justice, said the programme was apt adding that events have shown that stronger legislations were needed to tackle the disease challenges.
Mr Mohamed Shuab, Managing Partner for Resource Centre for Awareness for Good Governance and Development in Kano, said the training would help states to better understand health laws and security.
Shuab also noted that the training will help states strengthen their legal preparedness.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria