About 2,000 traditional medicine practitioners have been registered under a new database being created by the federal government to help promote traditional medicine practice in Nigeria.
The registration of the traditional healers came just as the government assured practitioners in the country of its readiness to assist them in the development of the sector.
As part of moves to give traditional medicine practice the desired boost, the Federal Ministry of Health said it has registered over 2,000 traditional healers on its database created to help track activities in the sector.
Speaking yesterday at a ceremony to unveil a new traditional medicine body, the Modern Traditional Medicine Practitioners of Nigeria (MTMPN), held in Abuja, the Deputy Director in the Department of Traditional and Complimentary Medicine of the Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Titus Tile, said the ministry is compiling a new database to bring all credible traditional medicine practitioners under a centralised platform for easy monitoring and collaboration.
“The ministry is doing a lot to bring them up to the level that countries have gone. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of a council that will regulate traditional medicine practice in Nigeria, and the bill is now before the National Assembly for deliberations,” he said.
Tile advised the traditional medicine practitioners to continue to collaborate and work as a team so that they can together make the desired progress.
He expressed the readiness of the federal government to collaborate with traditional medicine practitioners in the country to promote the healthcare of Nigerians.
Tile also assured Nigerians that very soon the government would issue certificates to duly recognised traditional medicine practitioners.
“The ministry is interested in promoting traditional medicine, and we encourage you to continue to work in harmony,” he said.
The National President of Modern Traditional Medicine Practitioners of Nigeria (MTMPN), Ibrahim Dada Nakowa, said the formation of a new apex body of traditional medicine practitioners became a necessity following the succession crisis that bedeviled the previous association.
“We were forced to form a new organisation due to the crisis that led to court cases, which resulted in the ministry deciding to deal with us unless there is new credible body,” he said.