The Chief Imam of Lekki Central Mosque, Sheikh Dr. Ridwan Jamiu has urged Muslims to take care of their health as protection of life and well-being of the Muslim individual is encapsulated in the shariah.
Also, Dr. AbdulWaasi Busari, a Consultant Nephrologist and Head of Dialysis Centre, Gbagada General Hospital, said lots of patients including younger individuals die from stroke, heart failure, diabetes complications, heart attack, among other preventable diseases, urging government to subsidise the treatment of these chronic diseases for the poor.
In addition, the Chief Clinical Coordinator, NSIA-LUTH cancer centre and a senior lecturer with College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Dr. Mohammed Habeeb lamented the rampaging rate of cancer, describing it as alarming, noting that the japa syndrome had led to dearth of health workers in the country.
The scholars made these assertions while delivering lectures at the Lekki Muslim Ummah, LEMU Quarterly Da’wah Workshop, with the theme, Sound Health, Sound Faith.
Imam Jamiu explained that against the misconception of the Shariah as stoning to death and cutting of hands, Shariah was meant to achieve five basic objectives which are: faith/deen; life; intellect; property; and family.
Under the protection of life, he explained that an individual must be conscious of his health and well-being, must observe cleanliness and purification at all times as well as food intake, adding that nothing is better than having good health.
He said one of the recommended practices in Islam is to ensure good and healthy living, maintain good hygiene practices, adding that cleanliness is half of faith.
He said, “Health is perhaps the greatest asset one can count on after faith. With health, hope is always renewed and our aspirations in life and afterlife will be pursued. The greatest obstacle to good living is illness. Illness could daunt our hope and truncate our pursuit. This is why the very objective of the Shari’ah is to promote the well-being of the people, which lies in the protection of faith, life, intellect, property and the family.”
Dr Busari in his presentation noted that chronic but preventable diseases like cancer, kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, among others are becoming so common ailments in society.
He added that junk food or what is otherwise referred to as ‘fast food’ intake and family genes are some of the causes of these chronic diseases.
“A lot of patients die from stroke, heart failure, diabetes complications, heart attack, among others. Even younger individuals are becoming more affected. Unfortunately, because of our healthcare system and individual attitude, a lot of people die from these seemingly preventable diseases,” he said.
Dr Habeeb laments dearth of health workers, cancer centers and equipment.
He said research showed that 20 million people were diagnosed with cancer in the year 2020 globally from 12.7 million in 2008, adding that cancer is on rampage today in the low and middle-income countries.
According to him, the low-income countries or the developing countries of the world are contributing to the rise in cancer because of the poor state of the health sector as the developed countries have put in place strategies to fight the prevalence of cancer.
“The cancer cases in Nigeria are going up. It is getting alarming. Unfortunately, people who have it do not turn out for orthodox treatments early. They go round every other thing but Orthodox treatment until it is metastatic, that means it has spread and it has advanced and by the time they come, they are already spent financially and the treatment becomes very cumbersome with no good outcome.
“Unfortunately also, because of the Japa syndrome, we have many of our people (healthcare providers) traveling abroad, making it difficult for us to have enough manpower to work with.
“Our economy also makes it difficult to fund the equipment for treating cancer. Equipment for treating cancer is exceptionally expensive. So, it is difficult to have private people come in to set up centres. For example, in the whole country, we don’t have up to 10 private centres.”
The Director, Ar-Rayaahn Natural Healthcare, Dr Qaseem Oyelakin also spoke on prophetic medicine offering different perspectives to its potency and efficacy in the treatment of ailments.
