The Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine (GHAFTRAM) has commended Ghana’s health minister, Kweku Agyemang Manu, for supporting the traditional herbal medicine industry.
The commendations follow Ghana’s considerable growth in the herbal industry after enjoying an enviable position in the sub-region and Africa as a whole.
According to the Federation, Ghana became the only country to integrate herbal medicine into allopathic medicine.
The Federation says the future of herbal medicine in Ghana was at stake but the minister’s support of sponsoring four herbal experts and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Herbal Medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr. Isaac Kingsley Amponsah, to undergo training in Vietnam, has rekindled hope, leading to a sign of improvement the industry.
They believe the knowledge of those traditional medicine practitioners will help streamline and improve orthodox medicine, especially in this era where there is depletion of forest resources.
National Organiser for the Federation, Nana Kwadwo Obiri, told Adom News that GHAFTRAM is ready to support its members with the help of the government and an international organization, GIZ Germany, to upgrade their knowledge and skills both in Ghana and abroad.
He called on Ghanaians to continue to support herbal medicine and also expect more quality herbal medicine.
Trainees’ of the Vietnam programme have disclosed that the study tour has opened up areas of research for academia.
They have therefore asked academia to engage in order to support the growth of the herbal medicine industry, as well as train effective Medical Herbalist at the undergraduate level.