Primary healthcare providers, medical experts and trado-medical birth attendants drawn from the Irewole/Isokan/Ayedaade Federal Constituency in Osun State, have been urged to ensure thorough diagnostic investigations of their patients before treatment.
This was disclosed at the 3rd biennial conference for primary healthcare providers and trado-medical birth attendants in the Federal Constituency, organised by a Medical Radiographer/Sonographer, Adeyemi Adeniji and held in Ikire, Osun State.
A statement by the organiser of the event, obtained in Osogbo, Osun State, on Monday, stated that over 200 participants, ranging from traditional birth attendants, primary healthcare providers, nurses and medical doctors benefited from the conference.
Addressing the participants, Adeniji stated that the conference which started in 2021, has enhanced the participants’ capacity, as they get exposed to current trends and development in medical practice.
“This programme has had a significant impact on the traditional birth attendants, health workers and even the medical doctors,” he said.
Speaking further, Adeniji lamented the level of quackery in the profession, noting that he established a diagnostic centre in Ikire for people in the environment to have access to quality diagnostic services.
He also decried the negative impacts of quacks on the medical practice in the communities that made up the Federal Constituency, saying, “There has been a lot of quackery, and that prompted me to cite a diagnostic centre in Ikire and Apomu so that my people will have access to quality diagnostic services.
“What we have been doing to address the quackery is to use this programme to sensitise the health workers on their job limitations and the scope of practice.”
A resource person at the conference, Dr Samuel Obasade, while delivering a paper titled, ‘From symptoms to effective treatment: The importance of diagnostic investigations in healthcare practice,’ explained that diagnostic investigations remain important features of modern medical practice.
“The importance of diagnostic investigations is part of modern medicine that cannot be overemphasised. If you want to treat patients, you cannot underestimate the importance of investigation.
“Most times, 70 per cent of what we do for the patients would be determined by the investigation. So, it is a part of medicine that cannot be pushed aside,” Obasade, a General Practitioner, said.
To eradicate quackery in the medical practice, the medical expert called for proper legislation and enforcement of laws by the government and the security agencies.
One of the participants, Oyetade Aderemi, a nurse, in his remarks, harped on the importance of laboratory investigation in the management of medical cases, warning against commencing treatment without proper medical investigation.
Lack of refresher training has been one major issue that often dominates discussions at different levels of policy making in the country, with little breakthrough achieved in ensuring regular training for the health workers in the country.
But in its efforts to provide good healthcare service delivery in the country, the PUNCH reports in April 2024, that the National Primary Health Care Development Agency disclosed plans to train 120,000 frontline health workers in integrated service delivery this year.
This was revealed by the National facilitator of the program, Ahmed Chiroma, during a five-day training of trainers workshop for Frontline Health Workers in Zamfara state on clinical competencies to improve health outcomes.
The workshop was organised by the Zamfara State Primary Health Care Development Agency and the State Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
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