Gomoa herbal practitioners to develop medicinal plants

Gomoa Nduem (C/R), April 14, GNA - The Gomoa District Branch Chairman of Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners (GHAFTRAM), Nana Kwame Arhin, has appealed to the government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to support the Association to cultivate medicinal plants.

He said the Association had acquired a large track of land at Nduem for the purpose.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Gomoa Nduem on Wednesday, Nana Arhin said the depletion of the country's forest had seriously affected herbal medicine production, adding that, if immediate steps were not taken to develop medicinal plants, herbal practitioners would soon be out of job.

Nana Arhin appealed to the law enforcement agencies to help the Association to flush out quack practitioners, who had been discrediting herbal medical practice through the production of sub-standard herbal preparations.

He appealed to the Gomoa District Assembly to device strategies to ensure that all herbal practitioners were duly certified and registered. Nana Arhin pointed out that most practitioners were doing their business without paying taxes to the government and to the district assemblies.

He urged persons desirous to practice herbal medicine to register with the Association and cautioned practitioners against laying claims to the cure of diseases until the potency of their preparations had been tested and approved.