Boards of Nigerian health agencies coming soon – Minister

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, has dropped a hint that boards of federal health agencies would soon be announced.

He said the constitution of the boards was being delayed because government was following the procedure for the exercise.

Mr. Adewole stated this as he expressed disagreement with the claim that the dissolution of the board of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN, has worsened the incidence of quackery in medical practice in Nigeria.

The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Mike Ogirima, made the stance during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.

Mr. Ogirima said that the dissolution of the board two months into the life of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration without reconstituting a new one has led to an increase in the cases of quack doctors in Nigeria.

Reacting to the statement, the director of media and public relations for the health ministry, Boade Akinola, who spoke on behalf of the minister, said there is a procedure before a new board can be constituted and that the procedure was being followed.

She stressed that “it cannot totally be said that the dissolution of the board is responsible for quackery in the country”.

Mr. Ogirima had called on President Buhari to constitute the board of the MDCN to enhance professionalism in the healthcare sector.

He said the dissolution of the regulatory body by the federal government along with other governing boards of federal parastatals, agencies and institutions on July 15, 2015, had affected the smooth operations of the council.

Some of the functions of the board include monitoring, discipline and adjudication of reported cases of alleged quackery and non-renewal of licence by doctors, among others.