Traditional medicine practitioners call for inclusion into National Health System
A traditional medicine practitioner Mallam Ibrahim Umar has called on states and federal governments to integrate traditional medicine into national health programme in order to gain experience and expertise of herbalists in the country.
He said during an interview in Jalingo that herbalists and traditional medicine practitioners have been contributing in curing persons suffering from ranges of diseases in various communities in the country.
Mallam Ibrahim Umar who is second in command at Mallam Sahabi clinic in Jalingo said, the clinic established in Jalingo about 15 years ago has cured thousands of patients suffering from different ailments
He said in the last few years the clinic has admitted thousands of patients suffering from stroke, mental illness and other diseases adding that more than 95 per cent of the patients have fully recovered.
Mallam Ibrahim stated that his brother, Mallam Sahabi, who established the clinic started treating patients suffering from stroke, and mental illness and other diseases at the tender age when he was in the village called Wuro Gope.
According him, parents of one of his patients cured by his brother prevailed on him to move to Jalingo and provided funds with which the 16 wards clinic was constructed.
He said patients from Adamawa, Gombe, Kano, Bauchi Borno, and federal capital as well as from Chad and Cameroon patronized the clinic.
Mallam Ibrahim explained that because of increasing number of patients coming from other states branches of the clinic were established in Kano and Yola to take care of patients those areas.
“Officials from World Health organization and Taraba state Ministry of Heath as well as members of National association of Traditional medicine practitioners have visited the clinic many times to monitor services rendered” he said
He stated that traditional medicine practitioners and herbalists needed to be integrated into national health programme in order to enable them contribute to health care delivery in the country.
“We require modern machines to purify our medicine as well as training to put our practice in line with global standard but many if not all of our members are treated as illiterates, ever though they are experts in their fields ” he further stated.
Mallam Ibrahim explained that both India and China and some otherwestern countries made break through in the field of modern medicine as a result of integrating native doctors into the main stream of medical programme.
He said in the North only Kano state created the office of adviser to the governor on Traditional medicine adding that such recognition was promoting positive impact in exploiting experience and expertise of traditional medicine to health services programme in the state.
Mallam Ibrahim said though there were instances where patients referred to recognized traditional medicines practioners, however, he called for more collaboration between the orthodox doctors and herbalists in order to blend the two.