The Medical Director (MD), Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abuja, Prof. Saad Ahmed, has described emergency medical care as a human right, urging government to strengthen emergency healthcare services across the country.
He said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
Ahmed was commenting on proposed amendments to the National Health Act, 2014, seeking stiffer penalties for hospitals and healthcare providers who reject or delay emergency patients.
NAN reports that Section 20 of the National Health Act, 2014, prohibits healthcare providers, health workers and health establishments from refusing emergency medical treatment.
The Act prescribes a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for up to six months, or both, for offenders.
The proposed amendment seeks to increase the fine to N300,000 and introduce specific standards and timelines for emergency assessment, treatment, stabilisation and referral.
The National Health Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, sponsored by Sen. Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, has passed second reading in the Senate and is undergoing further legislative consideration.
According to Ahmed, functional emergency services are critical to saving lives.
He added that the priority of hospitals should be to stabilise patients before moving them to other units for further treatment.
The MD said emergency care was the most important service hospitals could provide because patients brought in under emergency conditions were often in life-threatening situations.
“Emergency services are the most important service that we can give in hospitals. Emergency care, I can say, is a human right.
“The most important thing is not to have beautiful clinics or beautiful wards. It is to have functional emergency care.
“Once you have that, you will be able to keep the patient alive,” he said.
Ahmed said patients could be moved to other hospital departments for further care after being stabilised.
On the proposed amendments to the National Health Act, he welcomed the National Assembly’s interest in emergency healthcare but expressed reservations about criminalising healthcare workers.
He said improving emergency care required investment in qualified personnel, expanded emergency departments and appropriate medical equipment.
“I may disagree with what is being proposed, but I’m happy that the discussion has been opened up to that.
“Let’s see how we can build the system, get in more qualified manpower that can work in those facilities, expand the emergency departments to accommodate more people, and get the necessary equipment,” he said.
Ahmed said no staff member of FMC Abuja had been jailed for failure to provide emergency medical attention.
He, however, expressed readiness to contribute to the National Assembly’s public hearing on the proposed amendments to help improve the legislation.
He also expressed support for the Federal Government’s National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (NEMSAS), particularly its provision for emergency treatment within the first 48 hours.
According to him, the programme enables patients to receive emergency treatment without necessarily having money at the point of accessing healthcare.
“I’m happy with the federal government’s programme, NEMSAS, which looks after emergency treatment within the first 48 hours.
“If you come in, you can actually get service without necessarily having any money on you.
“Under emergency conditions, a billionaire can become a pauper. You may have all the money in the world, but you cannot access it at that point in time.
“What is important is to keep that person alive,” he said.
The MD called for the expansion of the programme’s ambulance component to ensure that people, irrespective of their locations, could access emergency transportation to hospitals at no cost.
He said some ambulances and tricycles had been enrolled in the programme, depending on the locations where the services were being provided.
Ahmed urged the programme’s operators to expand the coverage so that anyone requiring emergency assistance could call for an ambulance to convey them to a hospital without payment.(NAN)
