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Health experts and prominent lawyers say there is a need to close the wide gap between emergency care laws and their implementation in Nigeria.
On June 19, 2025, Health Ethics and Law Consulting (HELC), a leading health law firm in Nigeria, through its ‘Health Systems Learning Series,’ hosted a webinar where key health experts convened to discuss the critical state of emergency care provision in Nigeria.
The aim of the webinar was to provide workable solutions to address current challenges facing emergency care access in the country.
The webinar entitled, ‘When Minutes Matter: Implementing the Law on Emergency Care in Nigeria,’ brought together experts from government, policy, private sector, emergency response services, and geriatric care to address fundamental issues around emergency care in Nigeria.
The discussions revealed that while Nigeria possesses significant legal protections for emergency medical care, the translation of these laws into tangible, life-saving interventions remains frustratingly incomplete.
What emerged from the discussion was a call for immediate and coordinated action to transform Nigeria’s emergency care landscape, and insightful recommendations to improve upon current realities.
Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, professor of law and managing partner of Health Ethics and Law Consulting, opened the conversation by establishing the statutory reality that emergency medical care is an unalienable right of every Nigerian citizen. She noted that while laws have been put into place to protect the rights of gunshot & accident victims as well as pregnant women and vulnerable citizens, the practicality of these laws in real-life scenarios called their effectiveness into question.
Olumide Okunola, senior health specialist at the World Bank, said: “Health legislation does not just end on paper alone.”
Okunola said the legislation must be “financed by public funds to enable effective implementation,” emphasising the key role of government through the provision of funding to drive effective implementation of emergency care laws and ensure accessibility of emergency medical services to the most vulnerable of Nigerian citizens.
Emmanuella Zamba, permanent secretary, the Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA), presented a case study of how state-level innovation can pioneer transformation in emergency care delivery. She stated that Lagos State has the best and advanced model of healthcare access in Nigeria, serving as a blueprint for successful healthcare initiatives within the country.
On the role of private sector in scaling emergency care access across Nigeria, Jennifer Ayanti, representing Njide Ndili, president of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), noted that the private sector’s integration into emergency care delivery represents not just an opportunity for system expansion but a necessity for reaching Nigeria’s ambitious healthcare access goals.
Taofiq Olusegun Oyedokun, clinical associate professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, called for the leveraging of Nigeria’s human capital investments abroad to strengthen domestic emergency care capabilities through the mentorship of local paramedics, nurses, and community members by globally-experienced emergency care practitioners.
Folake Owodunni of Emergency Response Africa (ERA) provided a technology-focused perspective that positioned digital innovation as a critical enabler of emergency care transformation. She advocated for the creation of a strong database for the effective coordination of emergency medical services.
Oluwadamilola Grillo of Hold The Age Initiative, an NGO, drew attention to one of Nigeria’s most overlooked vulnerable populations – the elderly . Grillo identified critical gaps in first responder training for elderly-specific emergency situations, stating that where standard protocols are available, they may be insufficient or even counterproductive for geriatric patients.
Health Ethics and Law Consulting says it remains committed to knowledge strengthening, legal analysis, stakeholder engagement and health systems solutions creation for the implementation of laws around emergency care for the achievement of universal health coverage in Nigeria.
