A proposed law that could send doctors to prison for failing to attend to emergency patients within specified periods has triggered strong opposition from Nigeria’s medical community, with resident doctors threatening a nationwide shutdown if the controversial provisions are retained.
At the centre of the disagreement is a question of responsibility: should medical practitioners face criminal punishment when hospitals lack the equipment, personnel, medicines and basic facilities required to save lives? The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) say doctors should not bear the consequences of failures they cannot control.
The controversy followed the Senate’s passage for second reading of the National Health Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, sponsored by Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua. The proposal seeks to introduce compulsory standards for emergency treatment and patient referral across public and private health facilities.
Among its key provisions is a requirement for hospitals to begin assessing emergency patients within 15 minutes of arrival. It also proposes that basic stabilisation measures, including oxygen ther