By Oluwakemi Oladipo

A Professor of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology, Adejuwon Adeneye, has advocated teaching of contemporary and alternative medicine courses in medical colleges in Nigeria.

Adeneye, a lecturer at Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), made the suggestion at the 100th Inaugural Lecture of Lagos State University (LASU) on Tuesday.

The inaugural lecture had the theme: “Green Medicine: Nature’s Gateway To Sustainable Healthcare Delivery In Nigeria”.

Adeneye said that there was the need to incorporate courses on alternative medicine in the university currulum.

The professor said that the incorporation was important as a new curricular system was being considered for medical and other undergraduate programmes across Nigerian universities.

“Incorporating these courses will help to train, sensitise and widen the frontiers of knowledge of our young medical graduates on contemporary and alternative medicine integration.

“The National Universities Commission (NUC) should establish a minimum benchmark for Nigerian colleges of medicine and encourage academic and professional degree programmes at all levels.

“Establishing such degree programmes will also give room for robust researches into some of our ethnomedical practices and help to fine-tune such practices for the health benefits of Nigerians,” he said.

Adeneye said that the role of traditional medicine practice in Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system could not be over-emphasised.

“It is reported that 60 and 85 per cent of the population of every developing country relies on one form of contemporary and alternative medicine or another.

“The wider acceptability of the practice especially in developing countries stems from the fact that, apart from affordability and accessibility, it is believed to be a product of the wisdom and practice of their forefathers.

“If the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Three – Good Health and Well-being for All at All Ages – must be achieved by 2030, then, more attention has to be given to this informal sector involved in the healthcare delivery at the grassroots,” he said.

Adeneye added that it was imperative to safeguard the already endangered collection of medicinal plants in Nigerian forests and promote their local cultivation on a large and sustainable scale.

“This can be accomplished by formulating and enacting short and long-term wildlife conservation and environmental protection laws,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ijeoma Popoola