Ogun doctors cry out against quacks

The Chairman of the Ogun State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr Olajide Abayomi, has decried the level of decay in the state’s health sector, while also raising the alarm over the activities of quacks who disguise themselves as medical practitioners in the state.

The association said it is bothered about the unwholesome activities of the impostors.

Abayomi expressed this displeasure while speaking with newsmen in Abeokuta. He said that a group of professional fraudsters is on the prowl in various parts of the state, practising and promoting quackery at exorbitant rates and great risk to the health of those patronising them.

He added that the level of infrastructural decay in health facilities, ranging from old dilapidated structures, lack of modern medical equipment and inadequate security at health facilities across the state, is worrisome. According to him, there is an urgent need for the government to look into these issues.

He said that there is gross shortage of medical personnel and other health workers in the State General Hospitals in all zones of the state. Dr Abayomi expressed concern that doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other allied health professionals are in short supply across the state. He added that the decay in infrastructure facilities also portend great danger for the state health sector.

Abayomi said the association intended to sponsor an anti-quackery bill in the State House of Assembly. The bill he said, would completely outlaw quackery in the state health sector. He noted that the high number of quack doctors and nurses in the state had reached a point where the association, alongside the state government, need to take drastic actions.

‘‘We cannot leave everything to the government alone to shoulder. The responsibilities in health sector are collective ones, so we need to move fast with the initiative of sponsoring a bill to wage war against quackery in the State,” he opined.

Speaking on the Resident Doctor’s strike, he said it would continue until the government meet their demands, noting that the attitude of government towards doctors need to be examined.

While urging the State government to bridge the wide gaps in the emoluments, salaries and allowances of health workers in the state, Dr Abayomi said Doctors in the state need to be taken care of in order for them to be able to compete favourably with their counterparts in federal institutions and even other states.

“We cannot fold our arms anymore while doctors are suffering and wallowing in abject poverty in the name of serving the people of the State. Our salaries, emoluments and allowances are nothing to write home about. So we need to fight it once and for all,” he said.