The Traditional Medicine Practice Council has rolled out capacity building programmes for Traditional and Alternative Healthcare Assistants, to effectively regulate their practice in the country. The programme comes in the wake of increased adverse reactions associated with traditional and alternative medicinal products usually marketed on commuter vehicles, coupled with unethical practices and unprofessional misconducts exhibited by some of the practitioners. At the opening of the first in the series of the training programme in Accra, the Registrar of the Council, Mr Hlortsi Akakpo said the situation called for the institution of swift regulatory responses. The programme was on the theme: "Capacity Building for Quality Traditional and Alternative Health Service." Mr Akakpo stated that notable among the interventions are the strict enforcement of laws, rules and regulations governing the practice, capacity building programmes, continuing professional development programmes and increased information education and the adoption of multi-disciplinary approach, to effectively regulate the traditional and alternative medicine profession. Topics being treated include Overview of Traditional and Alternative Medicine, the Patient Charter of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ghana Health service, Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, Basics in First Aid, Medical Record Keeping and an Overview of the 10 Commonly Occurring Diseases in Ghana. According to Mr Akakpo, another urgent intervention relates to stopping the activities of unqualified persons engaged by some private health facility operators to offer medical care. "These persons undertake duties similar to those of nurses, dispensers, among other things in the traditional and alternative healthcare settings," he said, adding that it is obvious the support activities provided by those staff are not only dangerous to public health and safety, but also undermine the quality assurance in healthcare delivery. For this reason, Mr Akakpo said the Council had designed a training module tailored to the needs of the youth for capacity building towards safe quality and effective traditional alternative health service. The objective, he said, is to protect public safety using quality care, strict enforcement of standards and professionalism and also develop the knowledge, competencies, skill and attitudes required for quality basic delivery, particularly at the primary healthcare level. Source: GNA