HEFAMAA intensifies campaign against unregistered health facilities

The Permanent Secretary of the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA), Dr. Abiola Idowu, has urged residents to patronise only registered and government-approved health facilities in order to safeguard their lives.

Represented by the Deputy Director of Health Education, Mrs. Oladunni Omonike, at a sensitisation campaign and town hall meeting held in Ojo Local Government Area on Thursday, Idowu said the outreach was designed to enlighten residents on the agency’s mandate and how to identify certified healthcare centres.

She explained that HEFAMAA has been moving across local government areas in Lagos State to sensitise healthcare providers and residents on the need for proper registration and compliance, adding that approved facilities can be identified through the official logo and QR code.

“Our advice to Lagosians is simple: they should patronise only registered, government-approved facilities for their healthcare needs,” she said.

“When a facility is registered, we know them and can hold them accountable. But if people patronise unregistered or mushroom facilities, it becomes difficult to intervene or protect them if anything goes wrong,” she added.

She described the public response to the initiative as encouraging.

“We have gone round 19 local governments and the experience has been very good. In some areas, we expected about 200 facilities, but attendance exceeded that number. We even had to get more chairs. The level of engagement and questions asked show that people are listening and ready to embrace the initiative,” Idowu stated.

On enforcement efforts, she disclosed that illegal facilities have been shut down this year.

“I cannot give an exact figure, but we have shut down more than five facilities already this year, and we are only in February. Even yesterday, we sealed one. The awareness programme has increased public reporting, and we are responding promptly,” Idowu added.

Also speaking, HEFAMAA’s Chief Nutrition Officer, Mr. Richard Olusanya, traced the agency’s establishment to 2006, noting that it was created to regulate hospitals, clinics and maternity homes across Lagos.

“The individual overseeing a hospital must be a registered doctor or nurse,” Olusanya asserted.

“We cannot tolerate scenarios where a single person dabbles in ophthalmology, dentistry, and general medicine—that’s a gateway to quackery and patient harm.”

He explained that HEFAMAA conducts inspections every six months to ensure compliance with personnel qualifications, equipment standards and environmental safety requirements, stressing that clinics are not designed for 24-hour comprehensive care like full-service hospitals.

Olusanya urged facility managers to prominently display their registration certificates in patient-facing areas, reinforcing transparency and public trust.