Ogun NMA calls for community help to expose quack doctors

The Ogun State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr Luqman Ogunjimi, on Thursday called on the community to support the association in tackling the rising challenge of quackery within the healthcare profession in the state.

Ogunjimi said it is high time that members of the community, who are always at the receiving end of the terrible activities of fake medical doctors, begin to serve as whistleblowers and raise the alarm for both the association and the government to act swiftly whenever they suspect the activities of quacks across the state.

He equally urged the government at all levels to improve the remuneration for medical doctors, saying that a commensurate welfare package, improved security situation, as well as a stable economy, will go a long way to help reduce the challenge of brain drain in the country.

He disclosed this at a briefing held at the association’s secretariat in Abeokuta, to kick off the 2025 Physicians’ Week in the state with the theme “Healthcare as a Value Chain: Building Efficiency from Policy to Patient.”

The NMA chairman hailed the medical doctors in the state for putting in their best to provide residents with quality healthcare services despite the obvious challenges being confronted.

He highlighted poor remuneration, rising cases of quackery, multiple taxation, especially for those in private medical practice, the controversial contributory pension scheme, among others, as some of the challenges making medical doctors in the state uncomfortable.

On the challenge of rising quackery in the state, Ogunjimi stated that the association is already working to revive its monitoring team, which works in conjunction with the government to tackle this ugly trend.

He said, “However, quackery also goes beyond this in that it involves the community. If you are not a doctor, don’t attempt to practise as a doctor.

“And if, as a community, we notice someone who is not a doctor practising as one, we should blow the whistle and alert either the government or our association.

“We are saying that the hands are not enough, and we are trying to manage the situation and ensure that patients are attended to in the hospital, yet we are still talking about moving around for monitoring. This could be a bit challenging, except that we know which area and then go there to get the perpetrator arrested.

The community should also help us. When you are sick, go to registered health facilities, not a pharmacy or chemist shop, as we call it in our local parlance.

“What we often see is that when the chips are down and the people who patronise these herbalists, the chemist shops and unregistered health facilities now decide to come to the hospital, it is more often than not very late, though we try to salvage the one we can.

“We are also using this medium to call on the government to double up on the monitoring, and we urge the community to get involved. We should all patronise only registered health facilities.”

Speaking on the challenge of brain drain, Ogunjimi said that one of the leading reasons fuelling the migration of health workers is poor remuneration, adding that what Nigerian doctors receive in terms of pay, compared to their counterparts even within African countries, is quite abysmal.

He explained that, “In actual fact, the government must be ready to improve on the remuneration package of healthcare workers to cut down on the brain drain and to also ensure that those of us who decided to stay behind to serve our dear nation are not frustrated.”

The NMA Chairman, however, also revealed, “But beyond this issue of salaries, there are other issues encouraging brain drain, and parts of these are insecurity, the economic challenges. The government should also look into this because many people leaving for greener pastures outside the country are doing that to seek a better life for their children.”
Ogunjimi hailed the Federal Government for directing institutions to double the number of doctors they produce, describing it as part of the long-term solution to bridge the deficit of medical practitioners in the country.

He, however, disclosed that, as lofty as this policy is, if the government fails to work on remuneration for doctors, the new graduates of the medical profession will also not stay behind to serve the country.

Ogunjimi equally urged the state government to improve its funding for the Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences and the teaching hospital through Olabisi Onabanjo University, to have more infrastructure that could help produce more doctors to serve the state and the country as a whole.

The association hailed Governor Dapo Abiodun for his continued investment in the State’s Health Insurance Scheme, the revitalisation of the 250-bed Specialist Hospital in Abeokuta, as well as the implementation of the revised CONMESS salary structure during the outgoing year.

The NMA also commended the Chairman of Rites Foods, Alhaji Adebola Adegunwa, for donating a world-class Trauma Centre at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, as well as Asiwaju SK Onafowokan and Sir Kesington Adebutu, who also donated the new Physiotherapy Building, as well as the Eye Clinic and Diabetes Centre for the teaching hospital, respectively.