Fides Media Living the Faith
…Set to Checkmate Quackery, Abuse of Practice
By Chioma Ndife
The Anambra State Chapter of Modern Traditional Medicine Practitioners of Nigeria, MTMPN, has flagged off the registration and collection of data of all herbal doctors and all who deploy herbs and roots in solving health challenges in the state.
Briefing journalists in Agulu, Anambra State, the National Task Force chairman of MTMPN, Amb. JohnMary Ibeka, explained that the registration was to enable the association to build a database of all traditional medicine practitioners in the state in order to weed out quacks and end what he described as the evil perpetuated by some practitioners.
He noted that the registration of members would enable the group to facilitate the training and certification of genuine practitioners as the only apex body of traditional medicine practitioners recognized by the Federal Government sequel to the creation of a special department for this in the Federal Ministry of Health.
Amb. Ibeka disclosed that the registration which would last for one month would commence in March and called on traditional rulers and Presidents-General of various communities to help mobilize practitioners within their domain to register, noting that the forms were obtainable at MTMPN offices across the 21 LGAs.
He assured that the body would do all within its power to end all forms of abuse previously perpetrated by fake practitioners and restore the glory of traditional medicine.
Some members of the association who spoke at the briefing, Mr. Vincent Okonkwo and Mr. Enebeli Idowu, stressed the need for the registration of traditional medicine practitioners in Anambra State, noting that it would help to sanitize the association and bring it to a reputable standard.
The duo maintained that the association would work with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and other relevant government agencies to achieve its set objectives.