NMA Poised to Flush Out Quacks
Delta
From Onwuka Nzeshi in Warri
Nigerian Medical Associa-tion, Delta State branch, has resolved to wage full-scale war against quack doctors and other impostors in medical practice throughout the state, in a bid to save human lives and redeem the image of the medical profession.
The decision to flush out the quacks masquerading as medical practitioners came at the end of the association's annual general meeting and scientific conference held at the Conference Centre, Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, near Warri.
Towards this end, the association has set machineries in motion to checkmate these fake doctors, just as it has opened discussions with the Delta State government on the possibility of initiating a bill at the state House of Assembly to produce a legal instrument with which to fight the battle to a logical conclusion.
Briefing newsmen at the secretariat of the NMA, Warri Zone, the newly elected chairman of the state branch of the association, Dr Obaide Nwigwudu disclosed that quackery has been on the increase probably due to the absence of an enabling law at the state level to deal with the problem.
According to him, the only law against quackery in the medical profession in Nigeria is a federal instrument which the association has found difficult to use because of its cumbersome nature and the bureaucratic hurdles involved.
But besides the dangers of sharing their stethoscopes and syringes with non-professionals, the doctors also tackled two key issues namely the prevalence of renal diseases amongst Nigerians and the increasing spread of HIV/AIDS.
A communique at the end of the conference observed that the prevalence of kidney failure in Nigeria is rather on the increase. The association therefore urged the Delta State government to consider the setting up of at least two dialysis centres in the state to assist patients with kidney failure. It also urged people to check their blood pressure and blood sugar regularly to ascertain the state of their kidneys.
The conference also noted that HIV/AIDS pandemic would wreak more havoc on the country's populace unless pregnant mothers were made to undergo HIV screening to ascertain their state as well as that of the unborn child. It also advised the state government to make anti-retroviral drugs available to assist persons living with AIDS to procure the needed medical attention.
The scientific conference featured lectures delivered by renowned professionals in the medical profession while an exhibition of drugs was staged by various pharmaceutical companies.
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