Doctors on duty
Comply with Gunshot Act, FG directs medical facilities
•Tasks police to enforce provisions of compulsory treatment & care for victims
The spate of gun violence in Nigeria is a grim reality, and seeking medical attention for gunshot wounds has become a life-or-death gamble for victims. Being turned away for lack of a police report is the harsh reality for countless gunshot victims.
It is not uncommon for medical facilities to refuse treatment to gunshot patients without a police report, leaving many to bleed to death or succumb to their injuries while waiting for the required clearance.
Despite provisions of the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act of 2017, hospitals and other health facilities continue to deny gunshot victims life-saving treatment and care except they produce a suitable police report is provided.
The Act mandates hospitals to treat gunshot victims regardless of police reports and represents a significant step towards addressing the nagging problem.
However the challenge of implementation and compliance remain obstacles. Lack of public awareness of the Act’s provisions, and limited availability of specialised equipment, and trained personnel to manage complex gunshot wounds, further deter their involvement.
As a result, lives that could have been saved continue to lost unnecessarily because gunshot victims do not receive timely and lifesaving medical care because medical facilities refuse to comply with provisions of the Act.
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Worried by the spate of non-compliance, the Federal Ministry of Health recently issued a statement decrying the development.
In the statement, entitled: Non-Compliance of Medical Facilities on the Gunshot Act 2017, the Director (Information) of the Ministry, Patricia Deworitshe, called for immediate compliance by concerned parties.
It reads: “In recent times, the society has witnessed a rise in the loss of lives as a result of the refusal of some health facilities to attend to gunshot and victims of one-chance who do not present police reports.
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