An order by a Lagos State High Court urging the Federal Ministry of Health to establish a Central Alternative Medical Board is causing disaffection in the medical circle.
In the suit No ID 378792 filed by the All Nigeria Homeopathic Medical Association against the Federal Government, the court had ruled in favour of the association.
But the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners said they have no business being in the same group with homeopaths.
In a statement, which was signed by 35 of its members, CAM members said after a meeting in Lagos, that involving the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) in its affairs is an anathema. It said: “In fairness, homoeopathy, such as the CAM practitioners should not be in the same council with the orthodox medical practitioners. In addition to all these, the CAM Stakeholders Forum observed that the MDCN may not be knowledgeable in matters affecting Complementary and Alternative Medicine.”
The group alleged that the MDCN has not advanced alternative medicine even though it was supposed to regulate and supervise it.
The stakeholders appealed to the Federal Ministry of Health to discontinue relying on MDCN on policies affecting CAM, saying having a separate council for CAM would aid its development in the country.
The stakeholders commended the efforts of the Minister of Health and the Ministry for repositioning CAM in the Nation. Part of which is the establishment of Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, FEDCAM which stakeholders urged that the government should have its frontiers extended to Lagos, Enugu, Abuja and other geo-political zones of the Country to take CAM benefits closer to the masses.
Similarly, the forum implored the National Assembly to pass the Bill “An Act to establish the Complementary and Alternative Medical Council of Nigeria (CAMCN) to promote the growth and regulate the practice of alternative medicine and other matters connected therewith which has gone through its second reading.
Meanwhile, the forum has appointed Dr Isaac Ayodele as its National Co-ordinator and Dr Gilbert Ezengige as secretary.
To harmonise all CAM associations and ensure the formation of a unified body for CAM, the stakeholders mandated six members to mediate between CAM practitioners and the Minister of Health and other bodies to institutionalised CAMCN. They are Prof Joe Sodipo, Prof Oluyemi Akinadewo , Arcbishop Magnus Atilade, Prof Joseph Akpa, Dr Isaac Ayodele and Dr Titi Oduye.
Other key persons at the event include Prof Osmond Onyeka, Dr Bade Adewale, Dr Godspower Amadi, Dr Kunle Aladetuyi Dr Elizabeth Ejoh, Dr Samu Akaeze, Dr Anthony Ironwa and Dr Dike Celestine, among others.
The practitioners resolved to bury their differences and put the growth of their profession above personal interests.
The convener of the meeting, Dr Ayodele said the time was ripe for practitioners to put aside their differences and make collective efforts to work together.
source: http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/health/28127-alternative-practitioners-tackle-medical-doctors-over-control.html
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