Ambassador for the Made-in-Ghana campaign, Emelia Arthur, is appealing to the Ministry of Health and its stakeholders to endorse the usage of our herbal medicines.
She notes that the attention given to the local medicine is not encouraging, making it less attractive for Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians to patronise it.
“As an Ambassador for Made in Ghana products, I think it is not out of place to encourage my fellow Ghanaians to use and even tell others to go into the use of traditional medicines to treat their infirmities. I have been using the herbs of late to treat myself of various ailments,” she said.
Emelia Arthur
In her opinion, the efficacy of traditional medicines is better than orthodox medicines, however, because orthodox medicines are promoted in the media, there is the perception that orthodox medicines are better.
She is, therefore, urging the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the Mampong Center for Research into Plant Medicine, the Traditional Medicine Council, and Ghanaians at large are involved in the promotion of local medicines to up their game and help to give attention and project our traditional medicines.
The Campaign Ambassador in an interaction with the Chairman for the Greater Accra Federation of Traditional Medicines, Oscar Asamoah Donkor revealed that the rules governing the Mampong Center for Research into Plant Medicine is not effective since much attention is rather given to their own products from their quarters than ensuring that other medicines that are tested and not protected.
Mr Samoah Donkor feels that the regulations can be altered in the favour of all traditional medicine producers and not the Mampong Center for Research into Plant Medicine alone.
“Looking at the size of the traditional medicine practitioners whose members are about fifty thousand nationwide, I advocate that the Ministry of Health heed to the call by ensuring that proper attention is given to them.
“This is the only way many diseases will be cured with these medicines which will also increase production,” she said.