The Gunshot Act

The compulsory treatment and care for victims of gunshot Act was enacted on the 29th of December, 2017.
The Act seeks to provide for the compulsory treatment and care for victims of gunshots. The Act stipulates that a person with a gunshot wound shall be received for immediate and adequate treatment by any hospital in Nigeria with or without initial monetary deposit and without waiting for police report. A person with a gunshot wound shall not be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment or torture by any person or authority, including the police and other security agencies. This is one of the most significant developments of the year 2017 in the Nigerian health sector.
According to the Act, it shall be the duty of any hospital that receives or accepts any person with a gunshot wound to report the fact to the nearest police station, within two hours of commencement of treatment. Upon receipt of the aforesaid report, the police shall immediately commence investigation with the view to determining the circumstances under which the person was shot. Note that the police may not receive any person with gunshot wound from the hospital for the purposes of investigation unless and until the chief medical director of the hospital certifies him fit and no longer in dire need of medicare.
We are duty bound under this Act to render every possible assistance to any person with gunshot wound and ensure that the person is taken to the nearest hospital for immediate treatment. The usual scare of arrest when such actions are taken is now a thing of the past, because the law also states that every volunteer or helper of a victim shall be treated with respect and shall not be subjected to unnecessary and embarrassing interrogation in their genuine attempt to save life.
It is also the duty of the hospital that receives any person with a gunshot wound to notify the family members or relations of the victim as far as they may ascertain within twenty four hours of becoming aware of the victim’s identity. Any person or authority including any police officer or other security agents or hospital who stands by or omits to do his bit which results in the unnecessary death of a person with bullet wounds commits an offence and shall be liable to five years imprisonment, a fine of N50,000 or both. Note that every hospital or facility that takes or receives for treatment any person with bullet wounds shall keep adequate record of the treatment.
Any corporate body being guilty of an offence under this Act, the head of the body shall be prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of the Act. In addition to any other penalty under this Act, the High Court shall order a person or corporate body convicted of an offence to make restitution to the victim(s) and amount equivalent to the loss sustained by the victim(s).
This Act has finally put to rest one of the most worrisome public health issues in the country.

Nkechi Bright – Ewere