The Association of General Private Nursing Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPNP), has identified quackery as a major setback in the quest for delivering quality, affordable and accessible healthcare services in the country.

 

Speaking at the 9th Annual Scientific Conference, organised by the association in Lagos, the National President, Balogun Ajiboye, said the country’s health sector needs capacity to demonstrate assertiveness in the management of health care for patients to meet the changing needs of Nigerians. 

He said members are ready to take up their professional responsibilities in line with International Council of Nurses (ICN) Code 2002. His words: “Nurses and midwives are grossly underutilised in Nigeria. We strongly recommend expansion of nursing scope of practice by using the window of task shifting and task sharing for implementation. 

 

“There are shortages of health professionals of all categories in Nigeria, particularly doctors and nurses and the brain drain resulting from poor remuneration of the personnel is also on the rise. 
  “Each day, health needs of the population keep increasing and the attention is very little. These had led to increase in quackery and charlatans and the resultant effects is terrible health indices.”