Health
Nigerians Cry Out Over Quackery In Health Sector
………. It’s A Major Cause Of Disabilities, PWDs Lament
Federal and state governments and regulatory agencies have been tasked to adopt more stringent measures to curb medical quackery bedevilling Nigeria’s health sector.
The President of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), Dr. Casimir Ifeanyi, led the call for the Federal Ministry of Health and their counterparts in the 36 states of the federation to intensify the fight against quacks during the anti-corruption radio programme, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by PRIMORG, on Wednesday in Abuja.
Dr. Ifeanyi, who was reacting to an investigative report by Daily Trust exposing several cases of Nigerians suffering different kinds of deformities as a result of widespread quackery in the health sector, noted that “medical quackery is a major health menace in developing countries and a big illicit business in Nigeria’s health industry.”
He blamed the quackery in Nigeria on the government’s failure to protect citizens, lack of political will to follow through with the legal framework, and failure of regulatory bodies to play their roles effectively. Adding that “the problem of quackery in the health sector is not the lack of punishment. Rather arresting quacks is a bigger challenge”.
On what government and regulatory agencies must do to stem the tide of quackery, He said,” a whole lot needs to be done by the regulatory agencies and by the Federal Ministry of Health and the State Ministries of Health.
“We need to educate people on signs that an individual is a quack and how to credential the facility or individual so that I can have the confidence to receive service. All that is not being done and what makes us professional is because, inherently, we can decide to regulate. Anytime the systemic regulation is compromised, quacks will have a field day.
“Regulation needs to be more effective and more periodic, and there has got to be public health education.”
The medical practitioner picked holes in the law guiding the operation of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), saying, “There’s some lacuna in the powers of MDCN If so far the council cannot walk into a hospital, particularly a private hospital to check the documents of the practicing doctors, then something is wrong because right now they can only do that through the state ministry of health. That is a major lacuna”.
“Our problem is that we have legal frameworks and institutional frameworks for unfortunately, there is the scarcity of political will to give effect to the provisions in our laws, to the policies of the government that we have. The problem we have here is that these regulatory agencies are not doing enough. They are not living up to the mandate that set them up,” Dr Ifeanyi stressed.
On his part, a disability inclusion expert, Chris Obiora, while urging for a stiffer penalty against quackery in the health sector, disclosed that the ugly act has contributed to the number of millions of persons with disabilities in the country, adding that people are getting deformed due to quackery and negligence by health practitioners.
On the reforms needed to address medical quackery, Obiora said, “The Ministry of Health and some of these associations like the Medical Laboratory Association of Nigeria should take it more seriously.
“The government should take the arrest of quacks more seriously because, as far as I’m concerned, they have done more harm than good, so they should have more penalties for such actions, and by that, I mean penalties that will be more serious than what we have already.
Obiora called for awareness of the dangers of quackery in the health profession, stressing that awareness must be created for people to be able to understand and know how to identify quacks, especially in rural areas.
Speaking earlier during the radio programme, Daily Trust reporter Usman Bello Balarabe blamed regulatory failures for the booming quackery business in the health sector. He stated that unlike what is obtainable in other countries, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) portal does not show licensed medical practitioners, which can aid in identifying certified doctors
“When compared to their counterparts in other countries like Kenya who have published the lists of every licensed medical practitioner in the country and have a mechanism where confirmation of a medical practitioner’s license is possible and easy, Nigeria Medical Association’s portal doesn’t have the list of licensed medical practitioners, and this encourages quackery, Balarabe stated.
Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program PRIMORG uses to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.
The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.
Health
My Herbal Medicines Are Well Accepted Across The Globe, Prof Amodu Reveals
By David Maxwell
One of Nigeria’s leading voices in the support and propagation of herbal medicine, Professor Benjamin Amodu has revealed that his herbal medicines are widely accepted across the globe.
He made this revelation while speaking to our reporter at his laboratory in Abuja.
Amodu, known for his herbal cure for serveral communicable and non-communicable diseases like malaria, asthma, diabetes, enlarged heart, various cancers, chronic kidney disease even into the end stage, has boldly revealed that his herbal products enjoy a huge acceptance across the globe.
“Our medications are well accepted, both at home here in Nigeria and abroad too.
“This is because we’ve been sending our medicines not only to countries within the African continent, but also countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, America and even Oceania.
“We usually send our herbal medicines to Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt, South Africa and many other African countries, and even to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Kingdom, USA, France, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Canada and virtually everywhere around the world without any issues.
“We have been sending them to these places via DHL and we haven’t had any issues whatsoever.”
Amodu also spoke of the wide acceptance his his herbal medicines have been enjoying at home here in Nigeria.
He said, “even though we may not have had the support anymore expects from the government, but the Nigerian people are not waiting for the government to tell them to either accept our medications or not.
“Since many patients we have treated with our products and get cured of the ailments keep talking about and announcing for others to know, we haven’t had a short supply of patients who either come to us themselves or through family members and other caregivers.
“So if the USA, UK, Canada and all these other countries can accept our treatment, plus those at home here in Nigeria, then I can confidently say that my products are well recognized and accepted across the world.”
Having spent about four decades researching into Traditional, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, TCAM, with scores of papers published in reputable health journals and peer reviewed, Amodu, a professor of phytomedicine from the Triune Biblical University, USA, is no doubt a leading advocate for alternative medicine.
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