Koforidua, Sept 1, GNA - Cabinet is considering a policy framework and a bill for the establishment of Alternative Medicine Council submitted by the Ministry of Health aimed at the improvement of traditional and alternative medicine practice in the country.
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah to launch the First African Traditional Medicine Day and the Fourth Traditional Medicine Week at the Koforidua Jackson's Park on Monday. About 500 participants are attending the five-day joint celebration that has the theme "Traditional Medicine, our culture and our future" from all regions including traditional medicine practitioners from the sub-region.
Alhaji Mahama said the Ministry's proposal which also linked the positive effects of traditional medicine on the macro-economics and health delivery is being considered to ensure that the country harnesses traditional medicine resources. He said the policy initiative has a high possibility of attracting the status of President's Initiative by way of out-grower schemes for sustainable cultivation of rare and exportable medicinal plants. The Vice President said since independence the country has pursued a policy of integrating traditional medicine into the mainstream health delivery system and therefore set up a number of regulatory institutions.
He said the government would continue to pool together resources of scientific institutions involved in research into plant medicine develop their institutional capacities for specialised tests and serve as a guide for information on specific actions on the system.
Alhaji Mahama said a National Pharcovigilance Centre and a National Drug Information Centre have been set up to co-ordinate adverse findings on drugs and traditional medicine products used by the public. He appealed to the Ministry of Health to hasten action on the process to enable the Traditional Medicine Practice Council's Act passed in 2000 to have its full meaning on the practice.
The Vice-President called on the Food and Drugs Board to widen its net to cover traditional medicine products.
He appealed to the Board and the Ministry of Health to come out with concrete proposals and guidelines that would ensure that traditional medicine products sold across the country were safe for human consumption.
The Deputy Minister for Health, Mr Moses Dani Baah, said the Ministry is promoting traditional medicine practice in accordance with government's approved plans so that with the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme, the system could also become accessible to majority of the people.
He said discussions are going on with the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology for a Bachelor of Science degree course in herbal medicine.
Mr Dani Baah noted with concern that whilst a lot of traditional medicine practitioners are working hard to provide health care to the people the activities of some of them are detrimental to the development of health in the country.
He expressed regret that quacks; charlatans and commercial marketers with many of them without any training but claim to have remedies for many diseases have invaded the profession.
The Deputy Minister condemned reports that some practitioners were using chloroform in large volumes as preservatives without due regard to the health of the people while some of them also detain their patients unduly.
The African Regional Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Ebrahim Samba in a speech read for him, noted that despite the official stigmatisation of the traditional medicine practice during the colonial era the system continues to thrive even if underground.
He said diminishing national income, cuts in foreign aid and the search for effective treatment for common diseases such as malaria and opportunistic infections associated with HIV/AIDS such tuberculosis are driving renewed policy interest in traditional medicine in Africa. Dr Samba called on African states to recognise the value traditional medicine particularly in primary health care through the development of national policies.
He asked them to develop an enabling environment for the practice of traditional medicine through development of legal and regulatory frameworks for the practice and registration of the medicines and qualified practitioners.
The President of the Ghana Federation of Traditional and Medicine Practitioners Association (GHAFTRAM), Dr Anthony Normeshie, commended the government for its commitment to the development of traditional medicine by creating a directorate to be in-charge of Alternative Medicine and the promulgation of the Traditional Medicine Act 575.
He said the association will initiate sustainable biodiversity protection programme to prevent the depletion of medicinal plants and other natural resources and co-operate with research institutions to conduct research into and document traditional knowledge and practice. Dr Normeshie said judging from the effectiveness of traditional medicine in the treatment of malaria, typhoid fever strokes and the management of HIV-related diseases, well-organised traditional clinics should be accredited as service agents for their inclusion in the National Health Insurance Scheme.
He also called for the acceleration of the constitution of the Traditional Medicine Practice Council and guidelines for Intellectual Property Rights to be developed to facilitate the process of gaining access to such rights for practitioners.
The New Juabenmanhene, Daasebre Dr Oti Boateng, called for the recognition and upgrading of the traditional medicine practice as a vital part of the health delivery system to reduce the financial burden facing the sick as well raising foreign exchange for the country. He and the Eastern Regional Minister later opened an exhibition of herbal products mounted by over 20 exhibitors from all the regions as well as Burkina Faso.
Mr Moro Ismaila, a graduate of the College of Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, who won all the three prizes in a logo competition for the celebration, was presented with the 4.5 million cedis' cheque. 01 Sept. 03
Copyright © 1994 - 2024 GhanaWeb. All rights reserved.
