FG introduces herbal medicine in varsities

The Federal Government has concluded plans
to introduce Herbal Medicine studies in
Nigerian universities as from next year.
Already, the Joint Admission Matriculation
Examinations has been placed on notice to
provide a space for candidates interested in
the studying HM in the UTME on their forms.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu, who disclosed this on Friday evening
in Abuja during the 3rd Annual Guest Lecture
organized by Medical and Health Workers
Union of Nigeria with the theme: 'Developing
Human Resources for Health for the
attainment of Universal Health Coverage:
Issues and Perspectives' said it was a
deliberate effort to hasten the attainment of
Universal Health Coverage in the country.
The Guest lecturer was Dr. Abubakar Sokoto
Mohammed of the Department of Sociology,
Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto.
The Minister, however, advised the MHWUN
to buy into the MH and pay their contribution
in the National Health Insurance Scheme to
enable them access quality health care
services even after their retirement from
service.
He said, "They say we cannot achieve
Universal Health Coverage unless herbal
medicine practitioners are involved. But I say
they must be trained. Finally, a committee has
submitted a curriculum which we are going to
take to the National Council on Health. It is a
very beautiful curriculum.
"We are taking Herbal Medicine to the
Universities. Without it, there is no
integration. This is because, if you are a
herbal practitioner, you are a Doctor. A
herbalist is a doctor. But the first function of
a doctor is to take a diagnosis. It it Lasser
Fever or Ebola or is it dengue or is it malaria
or typhoid?
"You have to get the answer before you begin
to give that herb. You cannot do that unless
you learn those sciences that will enable you
get the results-physiology, pharmacology,
pathology, anatomy, biochemistry and all
others. If you don't learn them you will not
know anything about the human body.
"The herbal practitioners are working with me
because they saw what we are doing.
Hopefully, once the NCH approved it, it is
possible that by next year, in Joint Admission
Matriculation Examinations, some people may
be filling to read Herbal Medicine."
Chukwu further argued that for the health
sector to attain the desired progress, there
was the need for dominance and high
participation of non government practitioners
in the sector.
"For the country to attain its desired UHC, the
health sector must be dominated and handled
by the non-government actors. It does not
matter whether it is for profit or non profit.
More of health must be handled by non-
government involvement. If we don't reach
that place, believe you me, there will be no
universal health coverage.
"This is because we are not running a socialist
government in Nigeria, we are running a
capitalist government and under a capital
regime, if you don't put things under the non-
government sector, it will never work.
"Today, government is controlling most of the
health sectors, that is why it is not working
the way we wanted it is work. We are also
looking into our curriculum so that we will
include entrepreneurial scheme so that when
medical students come out from school, they
will know how to access loan and how to run
a business."
In his lecture, Sokoto, warned the medical
and health workers against intense rivalry in
the sector, stressing, "It does not help the
sector. There is the need for us to work
together."
He advised the three tiers of governments to
finance the NIHS, which according to him will
provide quality health services to the poor
and will also fastrack the attainment of
universal health in the country.
Sokoto said, "This is because, the government
said all people will have to contribute, but
there are people that are living below one
dollar per day, how can they contribute? And
they are the majority. So the only way
everybody can be covered is for the federal,
state and the local governments to pay for the
scheme. Because if the scheme must succeed,
there must be a financing system in addition
to a very good and well run health care
system.
"The medical and other health workers union
and other associations in the sector to map
out a campaign to ensure professionalism and
good ethical conduct among the workforce.
"Industrial democracy should be given an
important role in all important policies in the
health sector because a lot of decision are
taken and the workers are not being carried
along which normally bring problem. But if at
the beginning they are carried along, the
tendency of having any friction or conflict will
be reduced."
Earlier, the President of the MHWUN, Ayuba
Waba, stressed that the need to make robust
contribution for the success of outcomes of
the recently concluded Presidential Summit
on Universal Health Coverage necessitated the
putting together of the lecture.
He said, "We are trying to look into the
recently concluded presidential summit where
the issue of universal health coverage has
been canvassed. We realized that the fact
universal health coverage is at the heart of
health coverage and there is the need to
ensure that health workers are distributed
evenly across all parts of the country."