The National Complementary and Alternative Medical Association (NACAMA) has kicked against the bill to establish Federal College of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Council of Nigeria (TCAMCN).
The association expressed its reservation about the bill in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Onitsha on Sunday.
The President of the association, Prof. Peter Katchy, stated that the group was opposed to the call by the Senate for memoranda and public hearing on the bill.
NAN learnt the proposed public hearing by the Senate Committee on Health is expected to hold on Monday.
Katchy said the group’s stance on the bill stemmed from its initial opposition against lumping its body with TCAMCN.
“NACAMA is vehemently opposed to the traditional medicine body being merged with TCAMCN because they are of parallel relationship with complementary and alternative medical practice.
“Both are of different content and practice and should, therefore, not be collapsed into one,” he stated.
He urged the senate to rather enact into law an already drafted bill for the establishment of Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (FEDCAM).
Katchy stated that FEDCAM was in existence until Oct. 16, 2010 when the National Universities Commission closed it down.
“The Minister had set up a committee to look into the cause of the closure of the college situated at No.505 Wushishi Crescent, behind the CBN, Utako District, but nothing has been said since then,” he stressed.
He further stated that traditional medicine involved healthcare delivery methods and practice that are directly traceable or related to culture and ancestral heritage of the people.
On the other hand, he noted that alternative medicine referred to the practice of different approaches to management of ailments not typically used in conventional medicine.
Katchy said that complementary and alternative medicine was given a statutory recognition in Nigeria upon its incorporation into the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria by Decree 78 of 1992.
He said that NACAMA of Nigeria was formed and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in 2009.
“This followed a letter of recommendation by the Federal Ministry of Health to the Registrar General of CAC in 2008.
“This indicated the recognition of NACAMA as approved by the Federal Ministry of Health,” he stated. (NAN)
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