The Legislative and Regulatory Framework Governing Traditional and Alternative Medicine Practice in the Gambia: A Short Communication
Raphael Nyarkotey Obu *
The Gambia Law School, Banjul, The Gambia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Traditional and alternative medicine practitioners have an important role to play in the Gambian Healthcare sector, yet they have been sidelined.
I believe that the nature of the Gambian Healthcare sector stands to benefit more if practitioners are regulated effectively. The healthcare setup in the country is inadequate in caring for all the medical needs of the population. I was amazed to read about how a ferry transporting people and an ambulance carrying a patient to Senegal got stuck at sea for over 10 hours.
The resultant effect is that the patient died on the Ferry. If Pluralist medicine is promoted and integrated into the Gambian healthcare system; I believe that more lives will be preserved and better quality of care will be appreciated.
But these can only be achieved with legislation and effective regulation of the practitioners. The sad thing is that there is healthcare legislation in the Gambia but none appears to have an effect to regulate the practitioners. I explore them in this legal short communication article.
Keywords: Legislation, regulation, The Gambia, traditional and alternative medicine, healthcare system.