The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, has urged the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) to intensify enforcement of regulations
By Folasade Akpan
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, has urged the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) to intensify enforcement of regulations governing the use of ionising radiation across all sectors.
He said this was to safeguard public health and national security.
Salako said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the National Oncology Symposium with the theme:1 “Medical Use of Radioactive Substances in Nigeria.”
He said the NNRA must act as a “police” for the radioactive sector by being more vocal and firm in enforcing compliance.
According to him, lax regulation could expose the nation to grave health and safety risks.
“Your Director-General is like the Inspector-General of the radioactive sector; you cannot operate as a police by being silent; you have to be loud.
“If, as a minister, I am hearing for the first time that only three out of 15 of our institutions have the requisite licensing from NNRA; it means we are not speaking loud enough,” he said.
The minister expressed concern over the low level of compliance with regulatory standards, even among federal health institutions, insisting that, the law must be obeyed.
He commended the NNRA for its work in ensuring ethical and safe use of radioactive materials.
Salako, however, urged the agency to sit up and not use funding challenges as an excuse for weak oversight.
The minister stated that under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Nigeria recorded progress in strengthening its health system and expanding cancer care infrastructure.
This, he said, include the installation of equipment that emits ionizing radiation.
He, however, warned that while radiation was beneficial in medical diagnosis and treatment, it also posed risks such as cancer, cataracts, infertility, birth defects, and security threats if wrongly managed.
Salako disclosed that an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessment showed that though Nigeria had effective regulatory oversight, there still gaps.
“Such gaps includes the absence of Radiation Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs)—benchmarks that ensure patient safety in medical imaging, ” he said.
The minister directed the National Nuclear Medicine Technical Working Group to work closely with NNRA to develop those reference levels within the shortest possible time.
He also directed the agency to immediately commence the enforcement of compliance in all public and private facilities across the country.
He said the federal ministry of health and social welfare was implementing a five-year plan to establish or upgrade at least six cancer centres of excellence annually.
According to him, thus was to ensuring that every state had one by 2031.
Salako explained that this initiative, formed part of the Health Sector Renewal Investment Programme, aimed at reversing the tide of medical tourism.
He disclosed that medical tourism costs Nigeria about one billion dollars annually—40 per cent of which is spent on cancer care.
Prof. Idris Yau, the Director-General of NNRA, represented by Mrs Fatima Ige said the authority had the mandate to regulate application of ionising radiation in the healthcare and other sectors.
Yau stated this in his paper presentation entitled: “Regulatory Framework on Medical Use of Radioactive Substances. ”
He said that the agency had shut down some non-compliant facilities.
“With the support of the IAEA and the U.S. Department of Energy, we evacuated radioactive sources to the Temporary Radioactive Waste Management Facility in Zaria, ” Yau said.
He assured the minister that ongoing government interventions would address challenges facing the agency and enhance its regulatory capacity.
Also speaking, the President of the Nigerian Cancer Society, Prof. Abidemi Omonisi, decried the shortage of anti-cancer drugs and bureaucratic hurdles in the supply chain.
He warned that more pharmaceutical firms might exit Nigeria if the situation persisted.
Omonisi described the high cost of cancer treatment as financially toxic for patients, noting that many survivors could no longer afford medications and now resort to prayers or local remedies.
He lamented that access to the National Cancer Health Fund had become difficult for many patients, adding that a fact-finding committee had been set up to investigate the challenges surrounding its implementation.
“It is time to take the bull by the horns and address the barriers to cancer care in Nigeria,” he said.
The symposium brought together stakeholders from the health, nuclear, and regulatory sectors to discuss safety, compliance, and policy frameworks for radiation use in medical practice. (NAN)
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