Rivers: Health Ministry Declares War Against Quackery, bans unauthorized medical outreaches

Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt

The Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh says the state government has declared war against quackery in health sector in the state.
This is just as the state government said it has banned all unapproved medical outreaches by any organisations or individuals in the state.
The Commissioner for health, while briefing Journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday disclosed that some health facilities were sealed for unprofessional conduct and rendering healthcare services without the requisite qualifications and approval.
She said, “Over the last several months in different several fora, we have mentioned that the Rivers State Ministry of Health is meant to receive information about planned medical outreaches. It is not just for the sake of information for information sake, it is because part of our oversight on the health sector is that we are sure that healthcare services wherever they are being provided either in health facilities or in communities are provided by the requisite personnel.
“So when we engage with the planners of such medical outreaches, we want to also know who would be providing what service, what the qualifications of such individuals are so that we can carryout our own due diligence and give a seal of approval for any such outreaches to take place.
“So part of this briefing is to put on notice to the general public that no non-governmental organizations, no private body, no church or religious body, group, individuals, philanthropists, private hospitals or any entity whatsoever, should organise any so-called free or even paid medical outreach without written permission from the Rivers State Ministry of Health,” she stated.
Continuing, Dr. Oreh acknowledged that certain organisations have been doing the proper thing by notifying the ministry of their plan for outreaches, saying, “We engage with them and the necessary permission is granted for the outreaches to take place, but there are some who go behind, plan and
execute their outreaches, some we have received information from different quarters about outreaches we have no ideas about here formally.”
She warned the public to be wary of free medical outreaches as many are out to take advantage of the vulnerability of the public.
“It once again brings me to the issue of the vulnerability of people who access healthcare services of any kind. Once they submit themselves to such outreaches and there are nefarious plans behind it, it means they have subjected themselves to be taken advantage of and this is where we take this charge of the ministry very seriously and we are putting the public on notice that please, if you get wind of any free medical outreach, ask the right questions, do they have the clearance of the ministry of health to conduct such outreaches? It would be unfortunate if vulnerable members of society because of the quest for affordable or free medical care, fall into the hands of those who are just seeking to take advantage of them,” she warned.
On the sealed hospitals, she said they were operating without necessary permission and qualified personnel, stressing that they were identified through collaboration between the Anti-Quackery Committee of the ministry and the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, Rivers State branch.
“When we set up the Anti-Quackery Committee of the Rivers State Ministry of Health aimed at sanitizing the healthcare environment, we hoped that it would have sent a very strong message in a very short time and those practitioners that have been conducting themselves without the necessary licensing, without the necessary qualification backing, the necessary personnel to deliver healthcare services, we hoped that they would find a way to correct whatever establishment they had going by seeking the advice and guidance of the Rivers State Ministry of Health on how to proceed with their practice and the services they provide in their facilities. Unfortunately, we have three facilities that have had to be sealed in the last week. The Adewon Hospital located in Bori, Khana LGA, St Thomas Hospital in Eleme LGA and the Kaprica Spa in Port Harcourt.
“The Anti-Quackery Committee working very closely with the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, Rivers State, looks out for certain things. It’s not all about the building itself and facilities, the manpower that are delivering certain healthcare services must have the requisite qualification backing, the requisite licensing and registration for them to carryout certain services.
“Now for the two hospitals, they have been operated by practitioners, they are indeed doctors, but in several cases, we have identified that even the subsequent surgical training required to carryout surgical procedures is lacking, for most of the surgical procedures, they are using unqualified personnel to deliver surgical services. Those are recipes for disaster, and for everyone who works into such facilities, their lives are at risk.
“We don’t take these incidence superficiality. We are in a climate where all sorts of things can take place under the guise of medical and surgical services. We know that there is a booming market globally for organs. A place can portray themselves as providing body enhancement services but there is a more sinister motive behind it,” the health commissioner stated.
Dr Wachukwu Vincent, the Chairman of the State Anti-Quackery Committee, commended the Health Commissioner and the state government for the move to rid the state of quacks, noting that it is not a vendetta against selected health facilities and individuals but a holistic one for the overall betterment of healthcare practice in the state.
He said the governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara is investing so much into health sector to ensure that all the hospitals in the state including health centres render the appropriate medical services to Rivers people and residents of Rivers State, saying, “We have to do our own to ensure that Rivers people get the adequate medical care.”
“We are also focusing on maternities because that’s where most of the havoc is been wrecked, so we are not looking at hospitals alone, we are also looking at traditional birth attendants and maternities,” He said.
In his contribution, the chairman of NMA in Rivers State, Dr Tamunokuro Diamond said all hands must be on deck to end the menace of quackery in the health sector.
He said, “A clear message has been sent out to end quacks in the state.
Rivers State is no longer conducive for them, we must do everything possible to ensure that Rivers people get the best medical services that’s available wherever they are.”
Furthermore, he noted that the state branch of NMA would start educating Rivers people properly on where to access proper medical care and where to avoid when they have health challenges.