Insight Into Complementary and Alternative Medicines: Stakeholders View on Regulatory Practices.

Abstract

Introduction: There is a geometric increase in the practice of complementary and alternative medicine in Nigeria, yet there is no adequate regulation that aims at protecting public interest and guiding general practices. Regulatory practices are not being complied with because of poor implementation of these regulations. There is a need to analyze the stakeholders involved in these regulatory practices to identify their interests and influence on the regulatory practices. It is important to identify the challenges encountered and the facilitators to the effective regulation of CAM in Nigeria. These analysis has an impact on health system strengthening. This work primarily aimed at identifying the stakeholders’ views and perspectives toward the regulatory practices of CAM, identifying the stakeholders’ interest and influence on the regulatory practices of CAM. It further identified the challenges and enablers of these regulatory practices. Methods: This study utilized a qualitative in-depth interview, which involved a purposive sampling method of twelve (12) respondents. A combination of deductive and inductive thematic analysis was utilized to analyze the manual and electronic transcripts from interview tape recordings. Results: There was an agreement amongst stakeholders that more actions need to be taken for proper and adequate regulatory practices to be put in place. Deductive and inductive thematic analysis was used to identify the regulatory practices involved in registration, labeling, and advertising. Also, interests and influences were identified together with the challenges and facilitators of these regulatory practices. Stakeholders recommended the active participation of the government and practitioners. They also identified the importance of continuing policies that make CAM studies worthy of Public Health interest. Conclusion: Stakeholders’ interests and influence are an integral part of decision-making towards the regulatory practices of CAM. Regulation of CAM is not an easy task, as there are many challenges encountered.