For many, especially in developing countries, traditional medicine is their first choice of remedy for any adverse health condition.
This is particularly true for those living in remote or marginalised areas, where distance and cost are barriers to orthodox treatment.
In 1994, the Traditional and Alternative Medicines Directorate was established under the Ministry of Health. This was an important first step in integrating traditional herbal practice into Ghana’s health-care delivery system.
Its mission is to make available, a well-defined, recognisable, complementary system of health based on “excellence in traditional and alternative medicine knowledge”.
Mrs Anastasia Yirenkyi, Director and Alternative Medicine Directorate – Ministy of Health, has urged the Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Associations (GHAFRAM) to access quality, affordable and effective traditional medicines to ensure healthy population in the country.
Mrs Anastasia Yirenkyi said traditional medicine was a key aspect of the economy and could only be improved if practitioners were able to adopt the practices they inherited from their forefathers through research and the use of relevant technologies.
The director said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Chief Director Ministry of Health on Monday, during the commemoration of the 15th Traditional Medicine Week of Ghana Celebration in Koforidua.
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She said the World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed a strategic plan to guide traditional and complementary medicines on the development, regulation, education and rational use of these medicines, aimed at improving quality, access and sustainable availability of traditional medicines.
Source: Dan Kwasi Prince // www.dailyviewgh.com / Ghana
Writer’s email dailyviewgh@gmail.com
