Despite the Policy made by the Federal Government in 2016 to create a database for all doctors in Nigeria in order to make the registration processes for orthodox Medicine, Dental and Alternative Medicine Practice in Nigeria to be automated, The high state of quackery in both the orthodox medicine sector and traditional health sector in Nigeria keeps increasing at an alarming rate and this illegal and unethical act keeps endangering the lives and health of people across the country.
In order to put a stop to this life endangering act, stakeholders in the Nigerian health sector,during a town hall meeting on Public Sector Integrity in Nigeria, which was organised by the Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development,during the weekend in Abuja, have called for the review of the existing anti-quackery law in the country which according to them has become outdated and not properly detailed.
Speaking on the issue of quackery during the town hall meeting, the president of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, Dr Casimir Ifeanyi stated that “Quackery is seemingly lucrative, and regulation has failed. We have regulatory institutions and frameworks. Unfortunately, these institutions seemingly lack the idea of how to carry on with the mandate of their office, so they can’t be effective at safeguarding the lives of Nigerians.
“Secondly, the want of political will on the part of the government to free up the regulatory institutions has been provided in the enabling laws. Every profession has a charter. It is the charter that offers the rights of the practitioner and the duties of the practitioner that serve as a safeguard for the practitioner and those who receive services from them.
“It’s more pathetic when quackery happens in public health institutions. I am more concerned with this kind of guarded and protected quackery that happens under political protection. We need to speak to it.
“I have never seen the Medical Lab Science Association of Nigeria enter into any public hospital to say we want to look at the labs and the credentials of the practitioners. Why is that not happening? Guarded and protected quackery we need to address. It is very important and pertinent.”
Another notable guest at the event Dr Chichi Iwuamadi, the Managing Director at Americare Medical Group, also spoke about the damage that increased medical quackery is causing in our society, she said, “The ravaging of quacks’ practice in Nigeria cannot be underestimated. What is going on in the country is heartbreaking because people, out of deception, come to trust people who don’t have the ability and the licensing to take care of them. That means you are giving yourself to somebody who can’t take care of you,”
Also speaking about the state of medical quackery in the country, a legal practitioner, Ugo Nwofor called for capital punishment for culprits involved in such acts, “The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria act, particularly section 17 that deals with quackery, is not even detailed. It states that if you are not licensed and you practice as a doctor or in a related field, you pay a fine of N5,000 to N10,000, and you go to jail for five years. That should be a capital offence. What’s the minister doing there?”