Rapporteur’s
Report/Communiqué
A. Background
1. The
forum was organized by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON,
and the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC. It has the objective of sensitizing
stakeholders in the production and promotion of traditional medicine products
and practices on prevailing regulations and to seek their active collaboration
and compliance towards ensuring a wholesome communication environment in this
sector.
2. About
515 participants drawn from the various arms of the mass media, representatives
of organizations which engage in production and marketing of trado-medicine products,
officials of APCON, NBC and NAFDAC, and members of the public, attended the
forum.
3. The
forum opened with a welcome address presented by the Chairman of APCON, Lolu
Akinwunmi, in which he reiterated the purpose of the forum, appreciated the various
stakeholders who responded to the invitation to participate in the forum and
hoped that the engagement would usher in a new era of responsible communication
of trado-medicine offerings. He
explained that government could have used stiff legislation to stop unhealthy
trado-medicine communications, but it chose to engage with the practitioners to
secure voluntary compliance to appropriate regulations by APCON, NBC and
NAFDAC.
4. In
their goodwill messages, the Hon. Minister of Health, represented by Mr.
Mashood Lawal, and the Hon. Minister of Information, represented by Mr. Emeka
Mba, congratulated APCON and NBC for their well thought out initiative in
seeking a collaborative solution to the disturbing pattern of promoting
traditional medicine in the mass media which have tended to abuse public
sensibilities and endanger the wellbeing of those who respond to those unwholesome
communications. They called on
stakeholders to take a cue from the way orthodox medicines are communicated and
endeavour to promote their products in scientific and peer group media,
limiting their claims to scientifically verifiable attributes of the products. They hoped the outcome of the forum would be
embraced by the stakeholders.
5. Presentations
were made by the Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, Mr.
Emeka Mba the Registrar/Chief Executive
Officer of APCON, Alh. Garba Bello Kankarofi, and Deputy Director NAFDAC, Mrs.
Phebean M. Odu in which they expressed dismay at the preponderant violations of
the Codes of Practice which guide the production and exposure of advertisements
and programmes relating to traditional medicine products and practices. They proceeded to outline these regulations
and to explain their implications for both sponsors of such advertisements and
programmes as well as the mass media which provide platforms for exposure of
the advertisements and programmes.
B. Observations
The forum observed that:
1. Traditional
Medicine remains an indispensable component of Nigeria’s health services and
practices, patronized by a large percentage of the population. It should therefore be integrated into the
nation’s health delivery system in a manner that protects users of traditional
medicine and the general public.
2. There
is need for a Council to control the practice of traditional medicine and
establish standards for admission into the practice. Specific training programmes also need to be
organized from time to time to educate traditional medicine practitioners on various
regulatory requirements to guarantee compliance.
3. Government
should invest in research in traditional medicine and empower traditional
medicine practitioners to contribute to the country’s health delivery. The current scope and functions of NAFDAC
should be reviewed to accommodate better the interests of traditional medicine.
4. Many
practitioners of traditional medicine indulge in unwholesome marketing
communications which mislead the public and exploit the weakness of people who
have health challenges.
5. All
over the world, countries provide guidelines for the broadcast of
health-related programmes and Nigeria cannot be an exception.
6. Traditional
Medicine practitioners have not subjected their practice to regulation and this
has given room to influx of various forms of alternative medicine products and
practices from other countries.
7. Though
sponsors are required to ensure that their communications are compliant with
applicable regulations, media organizations will be held responsible for
violations of the relevant Codes by any materials exposed in their media.
C. Resolutions
1. A
working Committee is to be formed incorporating APCON, NBC, NAFDAC and various
trado-medical bodies to achieve a wholesome practice.
2. Forum
underscored the indispensability of traditional medicine in the healthcare
delivery system of a country like Nigeria which has relied on it for centuries
with a degree of success.
3. Broadcasting
and Advertising are regulated practices.
Thus trado-medical practitioners promoting their products must comply
with the provided guidelines.
Regulations
applicable to medical products do not discriminate between orthodox and
traditional medicine and both are required to comply with the regulations to
receive approvals by NBC, APCON and NAFDAC.
4. Participants
resolved to acquaint themselves with the guidelines on traditional medicine
advertising and programming provided in the relevant Codes and to comply
strictly with them.
5. It
was also resolved that traditional medicine practitioners should always engage
the services of relevant communications professionals in designing, producing
and exposing their promotional messages so as to obtain greater value and
comply with applicable regulations.
6. The
National Assembly are called to expedite action on the passage of the
Trado-Medical Council bill.
Communiqué
Group
Mr. Joe-Eugene Onuorah
Mr. Eki Adzufeh
Mrs. Ojone B. Otonoku
Mr. Ibrahim Isa Wada
Mr. Mathew Okoduwa