Nigeria, Feb. 17 -- The National Health Emergency Bill has scaled second reading at the Senate.

The bill which seeks to repeal the 96-year-old Quarantine Act, was considered after a brief deliberation on Tuesday. It is sponsored by Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North).

Introduced in May 2020, the legislation seeks to help Nigeria deal with any impending outbreak of infectious and contagious diseases in the future.

If signed into law, it would establish a legal and administrative framework for handling outbreaks of infectious and contagious diseases that portend major threats to public health safety within Nigeria, or are likely to be transmitted into Nigeria or outside Nigerian borders.

The bill is considered by many as the Senate versio...