HEFAMAA, Lagos Gov’t Shut Down 42 Health Facilities

Through its Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA), the Lagos State Government has closed off 42 health facilities in the past nine months.

The Executive Secretary of HEFAMAA, Mrs. Abiola Idowu, made this known while reviewing the activities of the agency in nine months, in Ikeja.

Idowu said the 42 facilities were sealed, out of about 1,040 health facilities visited from January to September.

She said the facilities were sealed for non-compliance with regulatory standards, including non-registration of facilities, lack of qualified medical personnel, as well as the illegal training of auxiliary nurses.

According to her, within the same period, 170 facilities across the state were inspected for registration, while 157 closure notices were issued.

Idowu said the key areas the monitoring officers focused on during the monitoring and inspection of health facilities were the qualification of personnel, operation processes of the facility, the environment, and the standard of equipment.

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The Executive Secretary said the agency was ensuring that monitoring of all the health facilities in the state was done at least twice a year, as the law stipulated.

“The agency is empowered by the Health Sector Reform (HSR) Law 2006 to franchise some of its activities.

“Section 49 (5) of the law granted the agency the power to select franchise companies to monitor and ensure compliance with the law by health facilities in the state”, she said.

Idowu, therefore, advised owners and operators of health facilities to get acquainted with the law and carry out their operations in accordance with it, to safeguard the health of the people.

According to her, the state Government is committed to sustaining the fight against quackery and unprofessional conduct in the system.

She urged intending operators to ensure proper registration with the agency through its website before commencing the 5 try operations.

Idowu also urged for existing registered operators to ensure that there is a prompt renewal of their certificates in order to avoid being sanctioned.