Traditional Medicine Board sensitise members on COVID-19, Lassa fever in Lagos
Workshop
By Kemi Akintokun
Lagos, March 19, 2020 (NAN) Prof. Adefule Oshitelu, Chairman, Lagos State Board of Traditional Medicine, on Thursday tasked traditional medicine practitioners on good hygiene to curb the spread of COVID-19 and Lassa fever.
Oshitelu spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at a workshop organised by the Nigeria Council of Physician of Natural Medicine and the Lagos State Board of Traditional Medicine in Lagos.
The workshop, organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, was used to sensitise traditional practitioners on COVID-19 and Lassa fever.
She said the traditional healers have a major role to play in curbing the spread of the virus, noting that they were the first port of contacts in their various localities.
“We decided to organise this workshop at this period to enlighten those that are into natural medicine, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Lassa fever that we have been nursing for years.
“We need to educate them on how to protect themselves and those who contact them for treatment before going to the hospital.
“We want to show it to the people that nature is very good and to the Western world; we have things that can suppress this pandemic.
“But, we must toe the line of the Federal Ministry of Health, Lagos State Health Ministry and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to curtail the spread of the pandemic,’’ she said.
Also, Dr Oluwagbemiga Aina, the Coordinator of Centre for Research in Traditional and Alternative Medicine at NIMR, said that the workshop was timely.
“This is coming at the right time because they are the first people that patients go to before going to the hospitals.
“So, it is good for us to enlighten them on the preventive measures against COVID-19 and Lassa fever,’’ he said.
Aina, also the Acting Head of Department, Biochemistry and Nutrition in NIMR, said the institution would continue to collaborate with the traditional practitioners to promote their medicine.
“Here in NIMR, we have a centre where we work and promote herbal medicine.
“Our Director-General in NIMR has a passion and believe that some of our herbs should be able to cure some of the diseases.
“So, that is why we carry out research on their drugs to authenticate their claims and know if they are good for consumption,’’ Aina said.
Commenting, Dr Gab Okafor, a Public Health Physician, said the workshop would help the practitioners to observe the practice needed in their domain.
Okafor, also of the Department, Biochemistry and Nutrition in NIMR, said that the practitioners were the key components of the prevention in their various localities.
“At their levels, we are concentrating more on prevention, owing to the fact that we now have more cases in the country.
“We didn’t just tell them about the prevention of the diseases, we also told them how it came about and its effect generally.
“The practices they need to observe in their domain and how they can contribute to curtailing the spread, because they operate at the community level,’’ she said. (NAN)
KOA/AIJ/GOK
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Edited by Abigael Joshua/Olagoke Olatoye