Executive Director, Centre for Plant Medicine Research, Dr Kofi Bobi Barimah, has hinted that they would soon outdoor two herbal medicines developed to treat COVID-19.
He said two herbal products had been sent to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research to determine their anti-viral properties for the treatment of the virus.
He said they also had a malaria herbal product, which was also undergoing anti-bacteria research and clinical trials at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
“We are hoping that the herbal products would be out before the end of the year, probably during our anniversary celebration in November,” he added.
The Executive Director of the Centre made these remarks on the sidelines of the Centre’s tree planting exercise it undertook in five selected schools in the Akuapem Ridge of the Eastern Region in preparation for their 45th-anniversary celebration.
The Centre in all planted 25 trees, thus, five trees in each of the five schools as well as presented each of the schools with 40 packs of bottled water, 10 packs of nose masks and two boxes of hand sanitisers.
The schools were Demonstration School for the Deaf, Presbyterian Senior High School, School for the Blind, Okuapeman Senior High School, and Nana Ankobeaa Takyiwaa Basic School.
The trees planted were Khaya senegalensis (Mahogany), Chrrysophyllum Aibidum (African Star Apple) and Cassia spp. (Gold Medallion tree).
Dr Barimah said herbal products had proved to be effective in the treatment of diseases, saying, this was a testament to the many people who had been visiting the Centre in the wake of the pandemic.
He said: “We have realised that a lot of people have found interest in herbal medicine during the pandemic.
“Before COVID-19, we had 70 to 80 people coming to our Center. But now, we have over a hundred people regularly visiting our centre.”
The Executive Director called on the public, especially the youth, to develop an interest in planting herbal trees in their communities.
The Centre for Plant Medicine Research will be 46 years in November this year; however, the Center will be commemorating their 45th anniversary this year 2021, since they could not do it last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.