Starrays
By Chris Alu, (NASS Abuja.)
The House of Representatives Committee on Specialty Health Care service is to embark on oversight to the Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( FEDCAM) at Kaduna in order to ascertain the proper take off of the institution this year in line with its mandate as enshrined in the Act that established the College.
The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Chief Alex Egbona stated this at the Committee meeting with the Minister of State for Health Dr. Tunji Alausa alongside his management team at National Assembly Complex Abuja today.
Chief, Egbona who is a member of the All Progressives Congress Party (APC), representing Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency of Cross Rover State, said the Kaduna College campus was not operational and was running an off campus site using government funds illegally. He said the Kaduna campus does not even have a Provost , and the head of administration was defending it’s budget. He explained further that the purpose for establishing the College was dashed and its aim lost because the trado— medical college was meant to complement the conventional medical schools ,said Egbona.
According to him, the school was to afford traditional medical practitioners the opportunities for research enhancement and innovations but lost hope at the moment.Chief Egbona therefore ruled that the College campus at Kaduna, established with good intension can not be vanished , therefore the need for oversight .
Earlier the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa while answering questions thrown at him by the members of the committee accepted the blame for negligence of duty by the Ministry of Health not getting it right from the beginning, but said he came in barely a year and in the course of his investigation, discovered the irregularities .He noted that the College is under the supervision of the Ministry of Health ,which ought to have tackled the situation headlong.
The Honourable Minister promised that the Ministry will do every thing possible to ensure the take off of the College with accredited faculties and curriculum for training for this year. While fielding questions from the press after the interactive session with the Committee, Dr. Alausa said that the out come of the meeting with the committee members was fruitful and satisfactory.
The minister also said the College was set up for the purpose of training people for traditional and natural medicine .Adding that originally, the College started as National College for Natural Medicine, teaching mostly herbal medicine. Thereafter, the Federal Ministry of Health took it over and renamed it Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, with campuses in Lagos, Kaduna and Abuja.
