Accra, July 23, GNA - Major Courage Quashigah (Rtd), Minister of Health on Monday said government recognised the importance of integrating traditional medicine into the national health systems to optimise its benefits.
He said it was essential to strengthen structures of traditional medicine through analysis of the prevailing systems and with the involvement of traditional health practitioners and communities. "At the same time we must be aware of the limitations in traditional medicine and risk of opportunism by individuals".
Major Quashigah said this when he opened a four-day West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO) Consultative meeting in Accra.
The meeting is to develop a harmonised policy and regulatory framework for traditional medicine in the sub-region.
The meeting is a follow to a workshop held in Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Fasso in May 2007, which brought together participants from Senegal, Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso. It reviewed the role of traditional medicine and government policies to develop a mechanism, which would help member countries without a national policy to have one.
He said the organisational requirements of traditional medicine practitioners should include the establishment of multi-disciplinary bodies responsible for the co-ordination of traditional medicine. Also the formulation of a policy and legal framework, the allocation of adequate resources, among others, to regulate local production and the rational use of traditional medicine as well as intellectual property rights.
Major Quashigah said trends within the global community showed that the challenges that confronted the sub-region on medicine including the traditional ones were enormous.
"Research into traditional medicine should be promoted and funded to identify efficacious and safe ones and assist traditional health practitioners patent their rights". He said there was the need for member countries to scale-up collection of base-line information and data to help formulate legislation and guidelines into a single document in order to harmonise its practice.
"Harmonised policies and regulatory framework would ensure the ultimate institutionalisation of traditional medicine in the health Systems of all member states", he added. Major Quashigah urged member countries to build stronger collaboration with countries where traditional medicine had been developed.
Dr. Kofi Busia, Officer in Charge of Traditional Medicine of WAHO said the integration of traditional medicine into the health systems called for the appropriation of policies and regulation. He said though the sector offered about 80 per cent of the sub region's health needs, there was so much negativity attached to it that accessing basic resources became difficult.
Dr. Busia asked stakeholders to support the campaign for the integration of traditional medicine, since it formed an important part in the health agenda. "You ignore traditional medicine and its amazing plants at your own peril" he said. 23 July 07
