Health
Fight quackery, uphold ethical standards, NMA president tells doctors
The Nigerian Medical Association has urged doctors to take the lead in the fight against quackery and unethical practices in the health sector, stressing that efforts to protect patients must begin with maintaining the highest professional standards within the medical profession.
The NMA President, Prof Afekhide Omoti, made the call in Abuja at the association’s First Ordinary National Executive Council meeting of the new National Officers’ Committee for 2026 on Wednesday.
The meeting, which brought together medical practitioners, senior members of the profession, government officials and other stakeholders, has as its theme, “Transforming Healthcare Practice in Nigeria: Building Trust, Accountability and Collaborative Excellence.”
The meeting is coming amid persistent concerns over the quality and safety of healthcare delivery in Nigeria, including the activities of unqualified practitioners, unethical conduct, poor regulation, workforce shortages, migration of health professionals and declining public confidence in healthcare institutions.
The NMA has also identified quackery and professional misconduct as major threats to patient safety and the credibility of the health system.
Speaking on the theme, Omoti said the fight against quackery must remain a major priority for the medical profession, but stressed that doctors must equally examine their own conduct and professional standards.
He said, “The fight against quackery must remain a major priority. But while we fight external threats, we must also uphold the highest ethical standards within our own profession.”
The NMA president said Nigeria’s healthcare system was at a crossroads, with rapid technological advancement, changing patterns of disease, increasing patient expectations, shortages of healthcare workers, migration of professionals and growing concerns about patient safety placing additional pressure on the sector.
He argued that rebuilding public confidence would require more than confronting quackery, stressing that trust, accountability, professional excellence and collaboration were essential.
According to him, “The solution cannot be found in blaming one profession or another. It lies in trust, accountability, professional excellence and collaboration.”
Omoti also called for an end to rivalry among healthcare professionals, saying modern healthcare had become too complex for any single profession to provide comprehensive care alone.
He said task sharing, task shifting and expanded roles must be based on evidence, appropriate training, regulation, supervision and clearly defined professional boundaries.
“We must move away from professional rivalry and towards collaborative excellence, while preserving the standards, competencies and accountability required for safe healthcare delivery,” he said.
The NMA president further challenged the association to practise the accountability it demands from others, saying its leadership and internal processes must reflect transparency and credibility.
“Our leadership must be transparent. Our processes must be credible. Our elections must be free and fair. Our finances must be responsibly managed. Our decisions must be guided by the Constitution and the collective interest,” Omoti said.
He added that members must feel a sense of ownership of the association, saying, “Our members must feel that the NMA belongs to them.”
The president also used the occasion to call for unity among members following the association’s recent elections, urging doctors to put past disagreements behind them and focus on rebuilding the profession.
“The elections are over. The campaigns are over. The disagreements must now give way to collaboration,” he said.
Omoti said differences of opinion were normal in a professional association, but warned against allowing disagreements to weaken the institution.
He said the NMA must become an association where “the young doctor has hope, the resident doctor has dignity, the consultant has professional fulfilment, the retired doctor is respected, and every doctor knows that the NMA will stand with them when it matters most.”
The NMA president said the new administration would also focus on major challenges confronting the profession, including brain drain, workforce retention, health financing, medical education, postgraduate training, patient safety, healthcare workers’ security, digital transformation and responsible innovation.
He said the association would continue to advocate better remuneration and working conditions while defending the dignity of the medical profession.
The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Dr Emeka Ayogu, said the meeting’s focus on professional standards and team-based care was critical to patient safety, public trust and professional integrity.
Ayogu said, “Standards define how we should practise, and teamwork defines how we practise together to deliver the outcomes we all want.”
He said the two areas were interconnected and had profound implications for the health and wellbeing of Nigerians.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the NMA Federal Capital Territory, Dr George Ebong, described the association as more than a professional body, saying its members were united by service, sacrifice and commitment to humanity.
“As we deliberate today, let us remember that NMA is not just an association; it is a family. A family bound by service, sacrifice, and the Hippocratic oath to humanity,” Ebong said.
He pledged the support of the FCT branch to the Omoti-led national leadership, particularly in advancing doctors’ welfare and professional excellence.
The NEC meeting also provides the association with an opportunity to deliberate on the welfare of doctors, professional development, healthcare policy and the future direction of medical practice in Nigeria.
The NMA’s renewed emphasis on ethics comes against the backdrop of longstanding concerns about quackery in the Nigerian health sector, where unqualified individuals and improperly trained practitioners can expose patients to unsafe treatment and undermine confidence in legitimate healthcare professionals.
The association’s leadership has therefore stressed that while stronger regulation and enforcement are necessary to tackle quackery, medical professionals must also uphold ethical standards, accountability and patient-centred care within the formal healthcare system.
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