The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has opposed a bill seeking to establish a National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases, warning lawmakers that creating another federal public health agency with overlapping functions could weaken Nigeria’s disease surveillance and emergency response system.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, made the agency’s position known on Thursday during a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Infectious Diseases on the proposed National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases (Establishment) Bill, 2025.
While acknowledging the need to strengthen Nigeria’s health security architecture, Idris argued that the proposed institute would duplicate responsibilities already assigned to the NCDC under its enabling law and could trigger conflicts over leadership and accountability during public health emergencies.
“The core responsibilities proposed for the new institute are substantially the same as those currently assigned to the NCDC,” Idris told lawmakers.
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