Falana faults Health Act on organs removal

Falana faults Health Act on organs removal

A human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has faulted the provision in the new National Health Act, 2014 which he said granted permission to doctors to remove organs of living persons without their consent.

The lawyer said in a statement on Wednesday that though the Act was the most comprehensive legislation on health care in the country, he described the provision of Section 51 of the law relating to the removal of body organ as obnoxious.

He said the provision of Section 51 of the law must not be implemented. He therefore called on the National Assembly to expunge it from the Act.

He added that the introduction of the Section 51 into the bill at the National Assembly was influenced by a powerful foundation in the United States.

He expressed regret that no legislator could challenge the sponsors of the provision which could not be found in any of the health legislation in the Western countries.

Falana said, “By denying patients the right to give consent or authorise the removal of vital organs from their bodies, the National Assembly has empowered doctors to subject Nigerians to degrading and inhuman treatment.

“In other words, Section 51 of the Act constitutes an egregious assault on the humanity of Nigerians. The provision of the law cannot be allowed to be implemented in any civilised society. Therefore, the National Assembly should expunge it from the law without any delay.”

He expressed concern that that both chambers of the National Assembly and President Goodluck Jonathan did not read the bill before passing it into law and assenting to it respectively.

The lawyer said, “It is however doubtful if both chambers of the National Assembly which had passed the Bill and the President who assented to it studied the provisions of the law. Otherwise, how can the President and the federal legislators justify Section 51 of the Act which provides undue justification for such?”