The Anambra State Government through the Ministry of Health has held a one-day seminar for the National Association of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practitioners in the state.
The event which was held in Awka, has its theme as “registration, renewal, recertification processes and practice guidelines” and it attracted members of the association in the State as well as resource persons from outside the state.
Addressing the gathering, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike who recalled the terrible experiences the Ministry has had with quack medical practitioners who later claimed to be homoeopaths, noted that the Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration will never allow anyone or group of people to toy with the lives of Ndi Anambra.
Dr. Obidike warned that the ministry must understand the mode of operations of the association, criteria for becoming a member and where their facilities are located among other things, and urged them to help the government to serve them better or the ministry will start clamping down on them to safeguard the lives of Ndi Anambra.
The Anambra State Director of Medical Services, Dr. Ugochukwu Chukwulobelu, in his opening remarks, noted that the seminar came to fruition after painstaking efforts, and re-echoed that for efficient medical service delivery, the ministry must regulate the activities of homeopaths to ensure that the ugly experiences the ministry had with quack doctors who turns to homeopaths overnight is brought to an end, as any life lost can never be reversed.
Dr. Chukwulobelu said that complementary and alternative medicine has come to stay to complement orthodox medicine, all geared towards restoring health and saving lives in Anambra.
Delivering a lecture tagged “potentization and pharmacy in homoeopathy”, Dr, Fidelis Okeke from the Nigeria Institute of Homoeopathy, Enugu, among other things, said that the National University Commission has mandated all universities in Nigeria to kick-start courses in complementary and alternative medicines, as it is being done in countries like Japan, USA, China, India, Pakistan and others, adding that lack of government’s support is their greatest challenge.
Dr. Ifeanyi Godwin from Enugu State University of Science and Technology College of Medicine, also delivered a lecture on “basic principles and philosophy in homoeopathy.
The Permanent Secretary, Anambra State Ministry of Health, Dr. Obiageli Uchebo among others attended the seminar which ended with a question-and-answer session.
Be the first to write a comment.