The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr Jide Idris, has opposed the proposed National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Zaria (Establishment) Bill, 2025, warning that creating another federal public health institution with similar responsibilities would duplicate existing mandates, weaken disease outbreak coordination and place additional pressure on public finances.
Presenting the agency’s position at a public hearing on the bill before the House of Representatives Committee, Idris said while the NCDC fully supports efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s health security and epidemic preparedness, the proposed legislation, as currently drafted, assigns functions that are already vested in the NCDC under the NCDC (Establishment) Act, 2018.
According to him, Nigeria already has a legally established National Public Health Institute in the NCDC, whose statutory responsibilities include disease surveillance, outbreak detection and response, laboratory coordination, emergency preparedness, implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR), public health
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