In recent times, the Gambia Law School, in Banjul, the Gambia, has become the destination for Ghanaian law students who intend to acquire professional law training to become lawyers. Prof. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu, a renowned Ghanaian Professor of Naturopathic Healthcare, known for his prolific writings in the dailies gained admission to the Gambia Law School in 2022 to study the Bar professional course to become a legal practitioner.
As a current Bar student at the Gambia Law School, Banjul, Prof. Nyarkotey is combining his legal training with supporting the Gambian Traditional Healers to advocate for traditional medicine legislation in the Gambia.
He said, he was touched by the plight of the traditional healers in the Gambia after his engagement and decided to use the knowledge gained in legal education to help advance the practice of traditional medicines. He believes that the purpose of legal training is to help solve a societal problem and this is exactly what “I am doing to help traditional healers to get legislation”.
Besides, “My goal is to become a medical lawyer to solve these issues. My future goal is to specialize in the legal aspect of traditional and alternative healthcare to help address the numerous challenges in this area of healthcare and push for medical pluralism everywhere I found myself”.
In the Gambia, Prof. Nyarkotey petitioned the Minister of Health, to help facilitate the legislation of traditional medicine. He is happy that his scientific writings on natural remedies have received huge media awareness and public interest in the Gambia.
Prof. Nyarkotey, who is also the president, of Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine in Ghana, has granted scholarship opportunities to 10 Gambian Traditional healers who are members of the National Traditional Healers Association of The Gambia (TRAHASS). The scholarship package worth 10,000 dollars will help the practitioners to pursue their academic program in Naturopathic Medicine at his established naturopathic medical school in Ghana. The Professor also plans to provide scholarships to young ones interested in pursuing Higher National Diploma (HND) and Bachelor’s degree programs in Naturopathic Medicine.
The Nyarkotey University College of Holistic Medicine and Technology is Ghana’s first Naturopathic and Holistic Medicine College, registered under the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET), Ghana, and approved by the Traditional Medicine Practice Council, Ministry of Health, Ghana. The college is also an educational Member of the World Naturopathic Federation, (WNF), Canada. The College’s Naturopathic programs meet the WNF and World Health Organization (WHO), benchmarked for Naturopathic Medical Education.
Risk of unregulated Profession
Professor Nyarkotey explained that in countries where regulation exists, the risk of traditional practices has been reported in the media space. What would therefore be the case for countries without legislation and regulation? He quoted studies that justified that babies of women delivered in an “unorthodox health center” had a significantly higher incidence of birth asphyxia than babies born in a hospital.
He also bemoans that traditional healers’ refusal to refer cases to mainstream facilities to seek standard medical treatment leads to a disaster. Based on several studies attesting to the fact that unregulated professions pose a public health risk, Prof. Nyarkotey emphasized that the government of The Gambia should take interest in regulating traditional and complementary medicine practitioners. This is to prevent harm. Besides, this is grounded on the doctrine of natural medicine; do no harm. Moreover, the government must protect the well-being of the citizenry regardless of whether the citizenry is subjectively content with the treatment that they are receiving.
He held that, when government regulates, it is to further the public good. He explained how government regulations have impacted the standards in mainstream medical practice. “We have seen the relevance of regulation in countries with traditional medical practice. They have national licensing standards; educational requirements and standards in the practice. Licensing of practitioners provides public confidence in any profession”.
Prof. Nyarkotey also held that many opportunities are associated with legislative regulation. For instance, the global market for traditional therapies stood at more than US$ 60 billion in 2000 and is steadily growing.