From Geoffrey
Anyanwu, Awka
The House of Representatives has been urged to reject the proposed National Council of Radiology (NCR) Bill, which is now before it as its passage would spell doom for the nation’s health sector.
The Association of Radiographers of Nigeria (ARN), Anambra State Chapter, objected to the bill which it described as obnoxious and asked members of the House of Representatives to withdraw their support for the bill which has passed through first and second reading.
Addressing newsmen shortly after the general meeting of the state chapter, the State Chairman of ARN, Dr. Anthony Ugwu, stated that the passage of the bill, which he said is a duplication of the already existing Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria, RRBN, that became an Act of the National Assembly in 2004, would not only create more confusion in the health sector to the detriment of the patients, but would lead to unnecessary clashes between the health bodies.
Ugwu who is also a senior lecturer in Radiography at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, alleged that the sponsor of the private member’s NCR bill, who is a medical practitioner serving as a federal lawmaker, copied the Radiography Act and was attempting to rename it NCR to suit medical doctors who were specialists in radiology.
He said: “The radiographer is a trained health professional who is licensed by RRBN to dispense ionizing radiation amongst other functions for the purposes of diagnosing and treating certain disease conditions. Radiography is a distinct profession in the health sector which oversees the use and application of conventional x-ray, ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, mammography, fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, etc in the diagnosis and treatment of pathogens.
“The NCR bill is merely a duplication of already existing acts, the RRBN Act inclusive, with the aim of performing the statutory functions of the RRBN, which has been judiciously performed by RRBN for almost three decades.
“The proposed NCR bill is nothing but an exercise in legal tautology and creating a council to regulate regulatory agencies and radiographers will resist it by all legal means. The NCR bill is capable of multiplying the cancer risk and other medical radiation work related hazards as the Nigerian Radiologists, who know little or nothing about radiation doses and dispensation of ionizing radiation, now seeks to head a council of medical radiation practitioners,” Ugwu said.