The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has opposed a proposed bill seeking to establish a National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases, warning that creating another federal public health agency with similar responsibilities could weaken Nigeria’s disease surveillance and emergency response system.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, presented the agency’s position on Thursday during a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Infectious Diseases on the National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases (Establishment) Bill, 2025.
While acknowledging the need to strengthen Nigeria’s public health infrastructure, Idris argued that the proposed institute would duplicate responsibilities already assigned to the NCDC under its enabling legislation and could create conflicts over leadership, accountability and operational command during disease outbreaks.
“The core responsibilities proposed for the new institute are substantially the same as those currently assigned to the NCDC,” Idris told lawmakers.
He cautioned that the proposed legislation raises “serious concerns over duplication of mandates, institutional overlap, governance conflicts and fiscal sustainability.”
The NCDC was established through an Act of Parliament in 2018 as Nigeria’s national public health institute, with responsibility for disease surveillance, outbreak detection and response, laboratory coordination, emergency preparedness, public health research, workforce development and implementation of the International Health Regulations.
According to Idris, effective management of public health emergencies requires a clear chain of command, adding that creating another institution with overlapping functions could complicate coordination during disease outbreaks.
He noted that the bill seeks to designate the proposed institute as Nigeria’s National Focal Point for the International Health Regulations and empower it to coordinate responses to infectious disease outbreaks, responsibilities already vested in the NCDC and recognised internationally.
“Creating another federal institution with overlapping responsibilities would generate uncertainty over leadership, accountability and operational command during disease outbreaks,” he said.
The NCDC boss pointed to Nigeria’s responses to major disease outbreaks such as Ebola, COVID-19, Lassa fever, cholera, meningitis, diphtheria and Mpox as evidence that the country’s public health system has evolved around a unified command structure.
Beyond concerns over duplication, Idris also questioned the financial implications of establishing a new institution with its own headquarters, governing council, zonal offices and workforce at a time when the country faces competing national priorities.
He expressed concern about proposals to fund the institute partly through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, warning that such an arrangement could place additional pressure on resources intended for critical healthcare services.
Idris explained that the Federal Government has invested significantly in strengthening the NCDC’s laboratory network, surveillance systems, emergency operations centres, genomic sequencing capacity and outbreak response infrastructure.
According to him, establishing another agency with similar functions would duplicate existing investments and run contrary to government efforts aimed at streamlining public institutions.
The NCDC therefore urged lawmakers to strengthen existing public health structures instead of creating what it described as a parallel public health command framework.
He disclosed that the agency had submitted a detailed clause-by-clause analysis to the National Assembly, identifying provisions of the proposed bill that conflict with the NCDC Act of 2018.
“The issue before us is not whether Nigeria should strengthen its public health capacity. The question is whether that objective is best achieved by strengthening the National Public Health Institute already established by law or by creating another institution with substantially overlapping responsibilities,” Idris said.
Despite the NCDC’s objections, lawmakers backing the bill argued that the proposed institute would enhance Nigeria’s preparedness for future epidemics and emerging public health threats.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, described the proposed institute as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s health security architecture.
Represented at the hearing by Bashir Zubair, Abbas said experiences from the Ebola outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic and recurring outbreaks of Lassa fever exposed weaknesses in the country’s health system and highlighted the need for stronger institutions.
“A country of Nigeria’s population and strategic importance can no longer afford a reactive approach to disease outbreaks,” Abbas said.
He added that the legislation would create a framework for integrating disease prevention, surveillance, diagnosis, research and management into a coordinated national system while encouraging locally driven scientific solutions.
Earlier, Chairman of the House Committee on Infectious Diseases, Amobi Ogah, said the proposal was partly inspired by findings from an oversight visit to the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Training Centre in Saye, Zaria, Kaduna State.
According to him, lawmakers discovered significant but underutilised human and infrastructural capacity at the facility.
Ogah revealed that the presidency had already approved the upgrade of the centre into a public health institute and expressed confidence that the legislation would strengthen Nigeria’s ability to prevent, diagnose and manage infectious diseases.
The public hearing also examined the Tuberculosis Anti-Discrimination Bill, which seeks to protect individuals living with tuberculosis from stigma and discrimination while encouraging early diagnosis and treatment.
Stakeholders from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, development partners, professional bodies and civil society organisations participated in the hearing as lawmakers continued deliberations on both bills.
The debate over the proposed institute comes as Nigeria continues efforts to strengthen its public health system after years of battling recurring outbreaks of diseases including Ebola, COVID-19, Lassa fever, cholera and Mpox.
The outcome of the legislative process is expected to play a significant role in shaping the future structure of Nigeria’s disease control and epidemic response framework.
