Onyeche Wofurum Igwe
Rivers State Anti-Quackery Committee has sealed Standard Maternity Clinic over the death of a patient.
The committee which was led by the Director of Medical Services, Dr. Vincent Wachukwu, paid an unscheduled visit to the clinic at Captain Amangala Street, Borokiri, and also revoked the registration of the facility.
The investigative visit was in response to a media report on the death of Mrs Victoria Paris, who died after a caesarean section in the facility.
The exercise, she said, was a continuation of the anti-quackery mandate of the Rivers State Ministry of Health and the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Rivers State and other healthcare associations in the State.
According to the committee, the clinic is a 3-bedroom apartment converted into a 6-bed maternity run by Mrs Comfort Etuk.
Our reporter gathered that the clinic does not have any licensed medical personnel (nurses) while surgeries are carried out in a poorly equipped facility. Also, the facility does not have standard sterilizing unit or Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).
Revoking the registration of the facility and the immediate closure of the facility, the committee summoned all the health workers connected with the practice to appear before Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) panel.
Reacting to sealing of the maternity clinic, the chairman, NMA in Rivers State, Dr Diamond Tamunokuro, frowned at the condescending practice of medical doctors operating in maternities and substandard facilities. He commended the action of the anti-quackery committee and advised quacks to turn a new leaf.
