The Lagos State Government has ordered all traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM) practitioners in the state, including product manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, and retailers, to register by September 30, 2023.
Mr. Babatunde Adele, the registrar of the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB), issued the orders in a statement on Sunday.
He was dismayed to see the rate of flagrant contempt for the current regulations governing traditional medicine practise in the state among some unlawful operators bent on putting the reputation of traditional medicine practise into disrepute.
According to him, the Board had finalised plans to activate its Inspectorate Unit, as outlined in Part 9 of the Health Sector Reform Law (HSRL) 2006, to checkmate different excesses among some practitioners.
At its 62nd meeting in 2019, Adele recalled that the National Council on Health resolved that all 36 states of the Federation and FCT should establish traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM) departments or boards within their respective domains to improve coordination, regulation, and control of TCAM practise and its products in Nigeria.
Adele urged traditional medicine practitioners to contact the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board at 21 Boyle Street in Onikan, Lagos, to regularise their operations and notify the State Government of their presence.
However, he warned that failure to comply with the aforementioned directive could result in appropriate measures, including the closure of violating premises.
LSTMB, he said, is legally empowered to accredit and regulate traditional medicine practitioners and premises in order to safeguard the public from quackery, fraud, and incompetence in the industry.
It should be noted that the Lagos State Traditional medical Board (LSTMB) was founded in 1980 to oversee the development, promotion, monitoring, regulation, and integration of traditional medical practises into the healthcare system, as specified in the Healthcare Reform Law of 2006.
