The Association of Community Health Practitioners of Nigeria (ACHPN), Kaduna State Chapter, has raised serious concern over the proliferation of unaccredited private Colleges and Schools of Health Technology in the state.
The association warned that such illegal institutions, operating without approval from the Community Health Practitioners Registration Board of Nigeria (CHPRBN), pose a grave threat to public health and professional standards.
Addressing journalists during a press conference at the ACHPN Secretariat in Kaduna, the State Chairman, Comrade Aliyu Abdulrasheed Umar, disclosed that several mushroom schools have been identified across different Local Government Areas, deceiving unsuspecting students and parents while producing unqualified personnel.
“These illegal institutions are not only misleading the public but also promoting quackery. The result is the production of half-baked practitioners who cannot meet the required standards of community health service delivery,” Umar said.
To curb the trend, the association has forwarded a comprehensive list of such unapproved institutions to the Kaduna State Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. It further urged the government to collaborate with security agencies and Local Government Councils to clamp down on these schools and safeguard public interest.
The association also called on the relevant authorities to publish the list of duly accredited health institutions in the state. It emphasized that clinical training in public health facilities must be strictly reserved for students from recognized and approved schools.
Comrade Umar also appealed to parents and guardians to always verify the accreditation status of any institution before enrolling their children or wards.
According to him, this would prevent families from wasting time and resources on unrecognized programs that have no professional value.
Reaffirming ACHPN’s commitment to protecting the integrity of the profession, Umar said the association will continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Health and CHPRBN to ensure that only qualified community health practitioners serve the people of Kaduna State.
He also appealed to the media to intensify awareness campaigns to enlighten the public on the dangers of patronizing unaccredited schools.
COV: Adamu Yusuf
