Oyo State government has threatened that henceforth, it will shut down any private health facility caught operating with unqualified personnel in the state.
Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi made the declaration in a separate meeting with the executives of Clinics and Maternity Proprietors and Proprietress Association of Nigeria (CAMPPAN), Oyo State branch and stakeholders in the private healthcare industries, held at the Conference Room of the ministry.
Ajetunmobi said valuable lives are constantly being lost to quackery practices, hence the need to call the relevant bodies into order for proper regulations among their members.
The commissioner reiterated that hospitals without qualified personnel constitute a danger to the society, vowing that any private hospital operating in the state without qualified personnel will be shut down.
Ajetunmobi explained that hospital owners who are not in the medical line must have qualified doctors on the ground with up-to-date Annual Practicing License and other staff must also have their registration updated.
She noted that anyone practicing with an expired license was regarded as a quack; therefore, she said such hospitals will not be spared from the wrath of the government. “We need to do this in the interest of our people,” she said.
The commissioner equally urged private hospital owners to stay within their limits, adding that going beyond their operational scope is also a form of quackery practice which is strongly frowned at by the government.
“Clinics are not meant for admission of patients but for observation and onward referrals, they should not do the work of hospitals”, she added.
In his remarks, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Akintunde Ayinde reiterated that the quality of health treatment received by the people is paramount to the government; insisting that the people establishing hospitals without the appropriate qualifications will face appropriate sanction.
Akintunde, therefore urged relevant bodies to work with the government to fish out the bad eggs among them to reduce quackery and malpractices in the state.
In their separate remarks, the representatives of the associations promised to cooperate with the government to achieve their goals of fighting quackery in the state.
Present at the meeting were Directors from the Ministry led by the Director of Secondary Health Care and Training, Dr. Adekunle Aremu, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Oyo State Anti-quackery Committee.
