FG introduces herbal medicine into 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.”