In a rather long communiqué issued yesterday, they canvassed the establishment of a Central Alternative Medical Practitioners’ Board to regulate and supervise the practice of alternative medicine in Nigeria as ordered by the High Court of Lagos in 1994.
The practitioners insisted that members of the board be drawn from seasoned professionals in the field of alternative medicine without the interference from the MDCN or Allopathic professionals.
They further asked the Minister of Health to take up the Alternative Medicine Bill currently on the floor of the National Assembly as an Executive Bill.
Also, they rejected the method of registration of their members as adopted by the MDCN, stressing that it has created more confusion in the alternative medical profession in the country.
Commending the government for setting up the ministerial committee on the closure of the Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (FEDCAM), Abuja, as well as the suspension of the management of the college, the practitioners also , asked the government to “respect the original agreement that three autonomous campuses of the FEDCAM should be established – one in Lagos to serve the West, one in Enugu to serve the East and one in Abuja to serve the North.”
According to them, the Federal Ministry of Health should henceforth, make adequate provision in its annual budget for the equitable funding of the three campuses in order to ensure their even development.
The forum frowned at the “negative activities of some members of the executive of the National Complementary and Alternative Medical Association of Nigeria (NACAMA)” and urged them to close ranks in the interest of alternative medicine in Nigeria.
“The forum observed that many of the practitioners in Nigeria no longer have confidence in the present national executive of NACAMA. This forum therefore advised the executive of NACAMA to desist from any representation on behalf of Alternative Medical Practitioners in Nigeria till all the issues are resolved,”according to the forum.
They raised a committee to be led by the convener of the meeting, Prof. Okoro Akpa with a view to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Health to ensure that the points raised at the meeting were urgently complied with.
Other members of the committee include Dr. Pep Omoroka, Prof. Osmond Onyeka, Dr. Timothy Timothy, Dr. Celestine Dike and Dr. Anthony Ironwa. Others are Dr. Akabueze, Dr. L. M. Anaele Dr. Morgan Anioha and Dr.B Duru.
