Radiographers reject radiation medicine bill

Radiographers in the country under the aegis of Association of Radiographers of Nigeria (ARN), have rejected the National Council of Radiology and Radiation Medicine (NCR) Bill, proposed by a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Patrick Asadu, describing it as a waste of tax payers’ money.

The bill is seeking for an Act to establish NCR for the control and practice of the profession of radiology, radiation medicine, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, radiography, medical physics and technology, nursing among others which the radiographers said was totally unacceptable because they were already being regulated in their various fields.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Lagos recently, organised by ARN and Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), the President of ARN, Mrs. Elizabeth Balogun, said members of ARN have not only rejected the proposed bill, but have refused to be associated with it.

This, Balogun said was because the practice of radiography in Nigeria is already being regulated by the Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria(RRBN) established by CAP 1987 and amended as ACT 2004 just as medicine is being regulated by Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCAN).

“It was therefore, a rude shock when we stumbled on a proposed bill by an Hounourable member of the House of Representatives to establish the National Council of Radiology and Radiation Medicine”, she said.

Balogun argued that if radiographers are already being regulated as professionals, what is the motive for lumping them with others who
don’t have their status of satisfaction and placement?

Her words: “We are satisfied with Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria, as our regulatory body. We are also aware of our legal right to fair hearing and freedom of association.

The bill is vague and does not lend itself to clear citation, reference and understanding; neither does it toe the line of international best practices.“For instance, it is difficult to decipher any positivity in a bill which seeks to establish a council of 12 medical doctors, three radiographers, and two medical physicists.”

Balogun noted that radiographers were not consulted and have no knowledge or inputs into the said bill, adding that they have taken their case to the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole who promised to look into it.According to her, radiographers are not satisfied that the bill seeks to establish an empire for radiologists outside of medical council, where other radiologists form the majority to lord anything over others, including radiographers who are professionals in their own right.

“It is a bill that seeks a marriage between one regulated profession on one hand (radiographers) and others accommodated in regulated profession like medicine and possibly nursing and engineering which already had parents regulators like MDCN, Nursing Council of Nigeria, among others”, she said

On what Nigerians could get from the proposed bill, she said the tax payer and the innocent Nigerian stands to get nothing but extra burden, duplication of duties of existing regulatory bodies, adding that the proposed bill will do more harm than good to the health sector which in turn affects the general public.

In his remarks, Chairman, Board of RRBN, Hon Abdul Fatare Bakare, said the bill would further increase quackery in the profession and also compound the already fragile health system through unhealthy rivalry among various professional groups in the health sector.

According to him, RRBN would not allow illegality and duplication of duties while describing the bill as an unholy matrimony in the health sector.

He therefore, called on the Senate and the House of Representatives to throw out the bill while appealing to them to legislate for adequate funding and training of radiographers in every teaching hospital in Nigeria so as to improve healthcare delivery.

On his part, the South West Coordinator, ARN, Mr. Uzondu Eke, said the proposed NCR bill, if allowed to go, was capable of destroying the radiography profession and the entire health system, urging the National Assembly to drop it.