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Breaking the Ceiling Glass: Illegality of Mandatory Requirement for Police Report - Clearance for Medical Emergence Treatments by Health Providers in Nigeria

Received: 11 July 2022    Accepted: 4 August 2022    Published: 16 March 2023
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Abstract

The National Health Act, 2014 is the first national legal framework that specifically deals with the right to health in Nigeria and other ancillary issues. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Act recognising and guaranteeing right to health in Nigeria, it is riddled with lacuna and deficiencies therein that constitute legal issues on right to health in the country. For instance, Section 20 (1) of the National Health Act, 2014 provides that a health care provider, health worker or health establishment shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason. Regrettably, notwithstanding this provision of the Act, victims of accident or persons that have gunshots injuries and who need urgent medical attentions are being refused emergency medical treatment and rejected when taken to the hospitals on the ground that they are unable to provide the Police Report/Clearance. This paper submits that this practice is a flagrant violation of the provision of the National Health Act, 2014 which provides that no person should be refused emergency medical treatment for any reason. The paper submits further there is nothing in the National Health Act or any other law whatsoever in Nigeria that provides that a Police Report/Clearance must be produced before a victim of accidents or gunshots could be treated by the health care providers.

Published in International Journal of Science, Technology and Society (Volume 11, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijsts.20231102.11
Page(s) 39-45
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

National Health Act, Police Report/Clearance, Medical Emergency Treatments, Right to Health, Justiciability

References
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  • APA Style

    Bukola Oyaleke. (2023). Breaking the Ceiling Glass: Illegality of Mandatory Requirement for Police Report - Clearance for Medical Emergence Treatments by Health Providers in Nigeria. International Journal of Science, Technology and Society, 11(2), 39-45. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20231102.11

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    ACS Style

    Bukola Oyaleke. Breaking the Ceiling Glass: Illegality of Mandatory Requirement for Police Report - Clearance for Medical Emergence Treatments by Health Providers in Nigeria. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Soc. 2023, 11(2), 39-45. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsts.20231102.11

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    AMA Style

    Bukola Oyaleke. Breaking the Ceiling Glass: Illegality of Mandatory Requirement for Police Report - Clearance for Medical Emergence Treatments by Health Providers in Nigeria. Int J Sci Technol Soc. 2023;11(2):39-45. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsts.20231102.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijsts.20231102.11,
      author = {Bukola Oyaleke},
      title = {Breaking the Ceiling Glass: Illegality of Mandatory Requirement for Police Report - Clearance for Medical Emergence Treatments by Health Providers in Nigeria},
      journal = {International Journal of Science, Technology and Society},
      volume = {11},
      number = {2},
      pages = {39-45},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijsts.20231102.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20231102.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsts.20231102.11},
      abstract = {The National Health Act, 2014 is the first national legal framework that specifically deals with the right to health in Nigeria and other ancillary issues. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Act recognising and guaranteeing right to health in Nigeria, it is riddled with lacuna and deficiencies therein that constitute legal issues on right to health in the country. For instance, Section 20 (1) of the National Health Act, 2014 provides that a health care provider, health worker or health establishment shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason. Regrettably, notwithstanding this provision of the Act, victims of accident or persons that have gunshots injuries and who need urgent medical attentions are being refused emergency medical treatment and rejected when taken to the hospitals on the ground that they are unable to provide the Police Report/Clearance. This paper submits that this practice is a flagrant violation of the provision of the National Health Act, 2014 which provides that no person should be refused emergency medical treatment for any reason. The paper submits further there is nothing in the National Health Act or any other law whatsoever in Nigeria that provides that a Police Report/Clearance must be produced before a victim of accidents or gunshots could be treated by the health care providers.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Private Law, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

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