…proposed law seek adequate funding, specialised personnel and stronger accountability in proposed amendment
By Gloria Ikibah 
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has called for adequate funding, stronger accountability and careful coordination as the National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS (NACA) considers an expanded mandate to cover tuberculosis and malaria.
Abbas made the call on Wednesday at a public hearing on a bill seeking to amend the National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS Act, 2004, to include tuberculosis and malaria in the agency’s responsibilities.
The Speaker said the proposed amendment offered an opportunity to examine whether Nigeria’s existing legislative and institutional framework could effectively address the country’s infectious disease challenges.
“A nation cannot fully realise its economic potential when preventable and treatable diseases continue to deprive its citizens of life, productivity and opportunity,” he said.
He described public health protection as an investment in the lives, capabilities and future of Nigerians, stressing that any expansion of NACA’s responsibilities must translate into better healthcare outcomes.
According to him, bringing the three disease-control programmes under one institutional framework could improve coordination, reduce duplication and ensure more efficient use of limited public resources.
However, Speaker Abbas cautioned that the diseases required different prevention strategies, treatment approaches and specialised expertise.
“The objective must not be to enlarge an institution’s responsibilities on paper while diminishing its capacity to deliver results in practice.
“The real test of this Bill is not whether it brings three disease-control programmes under one institutional umbrella, but whether it strengthens our ability to prevent infections, provide timely diagnosis, deliver effective treatment and save lives,” he added.
The Speaker urged lawmakers to ensure that the proposed amendment was supported by evidence, adequate resources and appropriate institutional safeguards.
He said stakeholders must examine the relationship between NACA’s existing responsibilities and its proposed additional duties, coordination between national and subnational programmes, sustainable funding and the retention of specialised personnel.
Abbas also called for clear performance indicators and transparent reporting mechanisms to ensure that the expanded mandate delivered measurable results.
He emphasised the need to protect vulnerable populations, particularly poor households, rural communities, women and children, who often face barriers to timely diagnosis and treatment.
“The success of any revised framework must therefore be measured partly by its ability to bring essential services closer to those who need them most, regardless of their income or geographical location,” he said.
Abbas urged health professionals, researchers, government agencies, development partners, civil society organisations and affected communities to contribute meaningfully to the legislative process.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the 10th House to using its legislative, budgetary and oversight responsibilities to improve healthcare access and strengthen public health preparedness.
“Our responsibility is not simply to make laws, but to make laws that work for the people,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks Chairman of the House Committee on Infectious Diseases, Rep. Amobi Godwin Ogah, said the bill proposes the establishment of a dedicated trust fund to finance the treatment, medication and distribution of drugs for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Nigeria.
Ogah said the proposed legislation, HB 2523, will expand the agency’s mandate, establish dedicated offices for the three diseases and create a trust fund managed by a board of trustees.
He said the initiative was aimed at improving coordination, mobilising sustainable domestic resources and strengthening accountability in the country’s response to the diseases.
According to Ogah, Nigeria continues to face a significant burden from the three infections, with about two million people living with HIV, while the country accounts for roughly a quarter of global malaria cases and 30 per cent of malaria deaths.
He also noted that Nigeria remained among the countries with the highest tuberculosis burden globally.
“This Bill takes the national agency that has carried Nigeria’s response to HIV for more than 20 years and extends its mandate to tuberculosis and malaria.
“It creates a dedicated office inside that agency for each of the 3 ATM diseases, so that each has its own leadership, its own budget line and its own line of sight. And it establishes a trust fund, so that the mandate arrives with the means to discharge it,” he said.
Ogah emphasised that the proposal was not intended to undermine existing institutions or diminish the expertise developed in tackling the diseases.
He said the proposed reforms must preserve specialised knowledge and disease-specific accountability while improving coordination across programmes.
The lawmaker also expressed concern over growing pressure on international development funding, saying Nigeria must take greater responsibility for financing its health programmes.
“We must establish whether the proposed arrangements are legally sound, fiscally sustainable, transparent and capable of generating additional resources for the intended purposes,” he said.
He urged stakeholders to assess the proposed fund’s revenue mechanisms carefully, adding that domestic resource mobilisation, counterpart funding and financial accountability must remain central to the deliberations.
Ogah said the ultimate measure of the proposed legislation should be its impact on Nigerians.
“We must measure ourselves by the lives we save, the suffering we prevent and the results that our people can see for themselves,” he noted.
