THE Chairman of the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board, Prof. Adebukola Ositelu, has urged traditional and alternative medicine practitioners in the state to obey government rules and regulations.
Ositelu said this in a statement on Sunday, urging practitioners in the traditional and alternative medicine space to get certified before practicing.
She was quoted to have spoken during the Board’s advocacy and sensitisation held in Ikorodu recently.
“We’ve embarked on this sensitisation to have an understanding with herb sellers, traditional and alternative medicine practitioners and also to advise each other. We are proposing that very soon, hospitals in the state will have sections for traditional and alternative medicines. This way, people can have choices and decide what they want.
“My advice to traditional and alternative medicine practitioners is to ensure they operate within the ambience of the law. No religion teaches us to disobey the government. There are laws for practitioners and the government wants us to enforce the rules. But there is a need to enlighten practitioners on what the law says.
“We can’t achieve anything with force, but with understanding from all stakeholders, we will achieve a lot together. No practitioner is permitted under the law to treat or administer anything to sick people except he or she has been licensed to do so. All practitioners must have a certificate of practice from the state government,” Ositelu said.
The Registrar of the Board, Mr Wale Kadiku, said, “The sensitisation was organised to discuss the progress of traditional medicine in Lagos. One of the major issues we had before was stigmatisation, but since the government has come up with regulations, the way people perceive practitioners had changed.”