Doctors Oppose Jail Terms in Emergency-Care Bill and Warn of Nationwide Strike
Nigeria’s two major doctors’ associations have rejected proposed criminal penalties for healthcare workers accused of delaying emergency treatment, warning that the provisions could lead to nationwide industrial action.
The Nigerian Medical Association and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors were responding to the National Health Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which passed its second reading in the Senate.
What the bill proposes
The bill seeks mandatory standards for emergency assessment, stabilisation and referral in public and private health facilities. It proposes that assessment should begin within 15 minutes of a patient’s arrival and that basic stabilisation measures should be provided within 30 minutes.
Healthcare workers or facilities found to have denied or delayed emergency care could face a fine of up to ₦300,000, six months’ imprisonment or both under the proposal.
Doctors say the system must also be fixed
The NMA said it supports the goal of timely emergency treatment but warned against treating every delay as professional misconduct. It listed shortages of doctors and nurses, non-functional equipment, inadequate oxygen and medicines, unreliable electricity, weak ambulance services and limited referral capacity as common causes of delay.
The association argued that the law must distinguish deliberate abandonment of a patient from a worker’s inability to provide care because the necessary staff, equipment or supplies are unavailable.
NARD warned that it could call a nationwide strike if lawmakers retain the punitive provisions without addressing those systemic problems.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Tertiary and Primary Health for further examination and a public hearing. It is not yet law.
Sources: medical associations’ response and bill details; additional report.
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