LSTMB Hosts Deligation From Corona Health Management System, Bayelsa Primary Healthvare Board

The Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB) today received a delegation from the Corona Health Management System and the Bayelsa State Primary Healthcare Board on a technical engagement aimed at exploring best practices in traditional medicine regulation and collaboration. The visit provided a platform for knowledge sharing and inter-state partnership, with a focus on strengthening the integration of traditional healthcare systems into modern health governance frameworks.

Welcoming the delegation, the Acting Registrar of LSTMB, Mr. Hakeem Bello, gave a detailed presentation on the Board’s structure and evolution since its establishment in 1980. He outlined its mandate under the Health Sector Reform Law of 2006 (revised in 2015), which empowers the Board to regulate, document, and promote traditional medicine for both health and economic development. Bello emphasized the importance of professional training, explaining that practitioners undergo a minimum of four years of apprenticeship, followed by a compulsory six-week intensive training covering over 15 core areas before being licensed.

He further noted that the Board maintains strict standards through an annual renewal process tied to proficiency training, ensuring continuous education and skill enhancement among practitioners. Highlighting efforts to improve maternal healthcare, Bello revealed that Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) are now being redirected from secondary facilities to flagship primary health centres for more accessible, hands-on training. He also announced an ongoing redocumentation exercise aimed at identifying legitimate practitioners and eliminating quackery in the system.

“We want to use our register to start an advocacy campaign that drives quacks out of business,” Bello stated. “Anyone whose name is not on our official list will be classified publicly as an unregistered practitioner. That is our way of protecting the public and sanitising the profession.” Supporting his remarks, the Director of Administration and Human Resources at LSTMB, Mrs. Azeezat Adegunwa, highlighted that several states have sought Lagos State’s expertise, underscoring the Board’s reputation as a national model for effective traditional medicine regulation.

In her response, the representative of the Bayelsa State Primary Healthcare Board, Mrs. Ogiriki Izonbodei, expressed gratitude to the Lagos team for the engagement, noting that the insights gained would help improve maternal and child healthcare systems in Bayelsa State. Similarly, the Project Manager of Corona Health Management System, Mrs. Geraldine Mgbawu, commended the discussions as insightful and transformative, affirming that the collaborative effort would enhance their ongoing health initiatives.