The
Director General of Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr
Janet Ekpenyong has pledged her full support to the clamping down of quacks in
Cross River State Health Sector to minimize numbers of avoidable deaths in the
state.
She
made this known during the formal unveiling of the Cross River State Public and
Private Health Facilities Inspection Taskforce on Friday at the General
Hospital Calabar,at an occasion aimed at projecting newer approaches and
measures to create a more safer health sector in the state.
The
DG said medical quackery over the years has been a cankerworm eating deep into
the nation's Healthcare system and as such needs to be uprooted especially by
state goverment,a delibrate effort which the Cross River State Government is
embacking on.
She
noted medical quackery as a hurdle that must be dismantled if the State aim to
achieve universal health coverage in a record time.
According
to her with the support of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the National
Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) and other allied Medical
Associations, quackery will be a thing of the past as confidence will be built
in the minds of citizens as well as promote the medical professional ethics.
Dr
Ekpenyong decried the increasing high rate of outreaches in various rural
communities across the state and the damages it has caused the inhabitants of
such communities which have led to organ damages, complications and even
deaths.
She
therefore seek for the collaboration of the newly innugurated taskforce with
the agency in line with global best practices to promote good and quality
Healthcare across the state
The
Honorable Commissioner for Health, Dr Betta Edu on behalf of the State
Governor, Senator Prof Ben Ayade had earlier inaugurated the Cross River State
Public and Private Health Facilities Inspection Taskforce where a two weeks
ultimatum was issued to owners of unregistered health facilities including
laboratories, owners of criminal illegal practices such as dealers of products
that makes claims to curing of multiple diseases such as supplements or the so
called "Cleanser" to be weary of their operational status as their
operations will come under professional supervision and strict scrutiny by the
government special taskforce set up.
Dr
Edu who also revealed that the Governor wants the best care for the inhabitants
and Visitors in Cross River State said so many professionals are operating
unregistered facilities like hospitals, pharmacies, drug chemist, maternity
homes, mortuaries, laboratories and physiotherapy homes with questionable
status with no evidence of business practice permit and professional
registration licenses.
She
called on media houses both print and electronic to join the drive by
developing protocols for the vetting of individuals and their claims to avoid
usage of the media channels to peddle their falsehood and quackery activities.
The
State Chapter Chairman of NMA, Dr Innocent Abang disclosed that issues of
quackery has been a major concern for NMA as a lot of fake and unapproved
medical outreaches are carried out across the state especially in the rural
areas leading to many deaths and morbidity. He called on the State house of
Assembly to have a legislation against quackery and fake medical outreaches across
our communities.
The
Special Inspection Taskforce is to be Coordinated by Dr David Edem Ushie,
Special Adviser to the Governor on Health and assisted by Medical and Health
Union leaders in Cross River State.
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