The Medical Rehabilitation Therapists (Registration) Board of Nigeria (MRTB) has launched a surveillance programme to check quackery in the practice of medical rehabilitation in the country.
The Registrar of MRTB, Prof. Rufai Yusuf Ahmad, noted that with 170 staff members and one office in each zone of the country, the board did not currently have the capacity, in terms of number of personnel and funding, to monitor medical rehabilitation practice across the country.
He stated this in Abuja during the launch of the MRTB Volunteers Surveillance Unit and opening of the MRTB Guest House.
He said the board sought the support of trusted and committed professionals across the 36 states and the FCT to assist in surveillance and report unprofessional conducts to the board for action as mandated by the act that established the board.
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He said, “The board carefully screened the surveillance volunteers, interacted with them, conducted training before recruiting them for the programme. Today, we will hand over a surveillance manual, MRTB Act and Regulation, surveillance vests and identity cards to the volunteers. We would like to assure the public of their capabilities and readiness to carry out the task of supporting the board in safeguarding Nigerian citizens by curtailing the menace of quackery and other unprofessional conducts in the practice of medical rehabilitation practice in Nigeria. We would like to solicit the support of the public in this regard.
“We currently view regulation holistically, starting from public awareness, review of laws and regulations, partnerships with relevant stakeholders and finally, administrative and legal procedures.”
Launching the surveillance unit and manual, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the surveillance programme fitted into one of the pillars of the current administration’s agenda; which was improving governance.
He said, “Your job will not be easy. But remember that you are helping to ensure every Nigerian receives meaningful and comprehensive healthcare as mandated by President Bola Tinubu.”
Dr Alausa disclosed that the government had reinstated the funding for health regulatory agencies and that they would be paid soon.
A former registrar of the board, Dr Olufunke Thaibat Akanle, said the board was one of the health regulatory agencies whose funding was withdrawn by the federal government. She called on the minister to restore the funding for the board, saying many workers were hungry as they had not been paid salaries for six months.
The Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, Mohammed Abba, who was represented by Lanre Oloyede, said as part of his efforts in fulfilling the mandate to create avenues of opportunities for Persons with Disability (PWD), his office was championing a novel initiative called “Beyond Disability Project” which would be launched by Mr President on July 22.
He said the project aimed to empower over 5,000 talented PWDs through talent and skills development, including 368,551 job opportunities for them.
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