The House of Representatives has passed for Second Reading a landmark Bill seeking to expand the statutory mandate of the National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS (NACA) to formally include Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria in Nigeria’s national disease control framework sponsored by the member representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State, Hon Amobi Godwin Ogah.
Leading the debate on the Bill, Hon. Ogah explained that the proposed amendment does not create a new agency but gives statutory recognition to NACA’s existing role in coordinating Nigeria’s response to HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
He noted that the three diseases are increasingly addressed through integrated health systems because they share common financing mechanisms, programme implementation structures, monitoring systems, laboratory infrastructure, supply chains, community-based interventions and international partnerships.
According to him, Nigeria continues to bear one of the world’s highest burdens of HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria, making stronger institutional coordination and integrated governance critical to improving public health outcomes.
He argued that the Bill would promote integrated planning and implementation of disease control programmes, eliminate duplication of institutional functions, improve the efficient utilisation of scarce public resources, strengthen coordination of domestic and international funding, and enhance accountability through a unified national coordination mechanism involving the Federal Government, state and local governments, civil society organisations, development partners, communities and the private sector.
The Bill, titled A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, to Add to the Name of the Agency, Tuberculosis and Malaria Diseases, and for Related Matters, is designed to align Nigeria’s legal framework with the realities of integrated public health programming and strengthen national coordination in the fight against the three diseases.
To guarantee sustainable financing, the Bill proposes that the Federal Government contribute not less than 0.1 per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the Trust Fund while providing for modest contributions from registered companies to support disease control programmes. The proposal comes at a time when international donor funding is gradually declining, making domestic resource mobilisation increasingly important.
Describing the amendment as far more than a change of name, Hon. Ogah said it represents a strategic legislative intervention aimed at strengthening public health governance and ensuring that Nigeria’s legal framework reflects the integrated responsibilities already being discharged by NACA.
He made it clear that HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria continue to affect millions of Nigerians, particularly women, children, young people and other vulnerable populations, with significant implications for life expectancy, economic productivity and the nation’s healthcare system.
The lawmaker, therefore, urged his colleagues to support the legislation, describing it as a timely and forward-looking measure that will modernise Nigeria’s public health institutions, improve efficiency and accountability, strengthen domestic financing, and enhance the country’s capacity to eliminate preventable and treatable diseases.
The Bill was referred to the relevant Committee for further legislative action.
