Promoting Use Of Herbal Medicine-Practitioners urged to observe proper hygiene (Page 29, August 25, 2010)

HERBAL medicine practitioners maintain that herbal medicines have proved to work as effectively as the orthodox medicines over the years and called for efforts to promote their use.
However, there are many people who are concerned about the conditions under which some of these practitioners prepare their drugs and are therefore apprehensive about their usage.
To alleviate the fear of such people, the Managing Director of Capital O2, Mr John Daniel Otto has advised herbal medicine practitioners to produce their medication under good hygienic conditions and subject them to proper certification.
This, he said would promote the use of herbal medicines in the country.
Mr Otto gave the advise in Accra at the launch of the “Natural Health Exhibition and Workshop”.
The exhibition, which is scheduled for November 23, 2010 is to promote natural medicines, help correct negative perceptions and to create a platform for deliberations on herbal medicines.
He said herbal medicines had proved over the years to be as effective as the orthodox medicines and even better in some cases.
He stressed that for the country to attain its primary health care delivery goals, it needed to make conscious efforts to incorporate herbal medicine in its health care delivery.
According to him, herbal medicines had been neglected for far too long without thinking of its enormous contributions to the country’s health sector.
Mr Otto said there was the need to combine the advanced, modern and technological diagnosis of orthodox medicines with that of herbal medicines to improve the health needs of the people.
He, therefore, lauded efforts of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to produce graduates in herbal medicines, and called on the government to champion the use of herbal medicines in the country’s health facilities.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minster of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbour said herbal medicines had played and continued to play important roles in the country’s health care delivery.
He said it was therefore imperative for practitioners to explore and add value to their products.
He advised practitioners to be customer oriented, continue to learn and develop their skills, create product satisfaction and make their products accessible to all.
Dr Kunbour said the ministry would continue to create a more enabling environment to help address challenges that emerged in the field.
He promised government’s support for the industry adding that “government would support herbal medicine not only for local consumption but for exports that would generate income for the country”.
The General Secretary, of the Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicines (Ghaftram), Mr Godfred Yaw Boateng called on members of the federation to assist the newly established council for monitoring and evaluating the progress of traditional medicines in the country.
This, he said would help in bringing the charlatans in the industry to book.
He, therefore, advised members to register their products with the federation and the council since any product without certified registration would not be allowed on the market.