The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu has admitted that the proposed Infectious Disease Act requires more consultation, if it must serve the purpose it’s being created for.
Ihekweazu said passing such bill in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic is not advisable, but should be done carefully after the crisis, with wide consultations with stakeholders to draft a bill that will serve the country now and in the future.
“Of course the bill requires more consultation, I am personally not in favour of starting the bill in the middle of a crisis I think we need to get over the crisis, get our heads around what has happened and use the momentum to engage with all stakeholders to come up with a bill that will really serve this country for now and in the future,” Ihekweazu said responding to questions during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19.
“Whatever new legislation will come up for public health and infectious diseases in Nigeria will be so important because there’s never been a time that the importance of this has been more clear in the consciousness of Nigerians.
“So we must think each step carefully and come up with a bill that is fit a purpose that serves us now and well into the future,” he added.
Godsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja
