Sustaining the fight against medical quackery and false health information through a proficient community health care system in Nigeria

Medical quackery and false health information are two basic challenges that constitute a significant threat to effective delivery of health care services to meet the basic health needs of the people. In Nigeria, several lives and millions of naira are lost annually as a result of medical quackery and false health information. More grave and worrisome is the fact that, the public confidence and trust for the national health care delivery system is also affected by the activities of quacks and peddlers of false health information. To curtail medical quackery and the spread of false health information, the individuals and families in the community should have unhindered access to basic medical services and accurate health information. This is crucial, because medical quackery thrives when there is gap between the health care system and consumers in the community. The health care workers that bridge the health care services and information gap in the community are the community health practitioners. Community health practitioners are professionally trained and positioned as frontline public health personnel that provide health care services to meet the basic health needs of the population. This review that is focused on empowering the community health workers with basic skills to fight medical quackery and false health information, is considered in these perspectives. Meaning of medical quackery, false health information and its various dimensions, fraudulent medical practices and implications to Nigerian health system, scope of medical quackery in Nigeria, potential dangers of medical quackery in Nigeria, community health practice and the practitioners. The review further highlighted the professional blueprint that could strengthen the community health system to curb medical quackery in Nigeria and suggested the way forward in the fight against medical quackery.