By Nana Osei Kyeretwie, GNA
Sunyani, Nov. 18, GNA – Traditional herbal medicine has proven to be efficacious for the treatment of various diseases since time immemorial, Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah, Acting Director, Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CfPMR), says.
“For scientific medicine to be complete in the cure of diseases, there is the need to add indigenous knowledge which is the application and use of traditional herbal medicine,”he added.
Dr. Barimah made the declaration in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after the launch of a book “Traditional Medicine in Ghana,” which he was the lead author, in Sunyani.
His co-author was Mr. Okyere Bonna, a Ghanaian writer currently undertaking his doctoral studies in Health Administration with University of Phoenix, United States of America.
He said in September 1978, the Alma-Ata Declaration among others, directed that in order to achieve health for all by the year 2000, “Which we (Ghana) missed,” there was the need for all governments to ensure the inclusion and application of traditional medicine practice in the health care services delivery.
Alma-Ata, now Almaty, Kazakhstan, was part of the former Union of Soviet Socialists Republic (USSR) and that declaration was an outcome of an International Conference on Primary Health Care which was co-sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
But, Dr. Barimah regretted that, “Ghana could not do according to the declaration and consequently, has not been able to derive a lot from traditional herbal medicine practice (THMP) as part of the health care system.”
This is because, he argued, studies according to WHO had indicated about 80 per cent of Africans relied on traditional medicine for various health care needs, hence “health care is incomplete without traditional medicine,” Dr. Barimah stressed.
In justifying further, the need to promote the THMP to make Ghana’s health care services delivery complete, the Acting Director for CfPMR, said there was big gap between the available number of medical practitioners in relation to the number of patients seeking medical care.
He said currently, Ghana’s Doctor to Patient ratio was about 1:8000 whilst with the THMP, the situation is a practitioner to less than a 1000 patients.
Touching on the significance of the about 190 pages book on THMP industry, Dr. Barimah admitted that traditional medicine as a subject was relatively a broad area with already many published books.
But he maintained that “this book is one of a difference because since 2003 I have been working with Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners (GHAFTRAM) to make adequate demand on the government for the establishment of Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC) that was formed in 2010”.
Though the Traditional Medicine Practice Act (Act 575) which was promulgated in 2000 to control and regulate THMP had provided for the creation of the TMPC, he said.
“Our advocacy and demand gave the needed impetus for its eventual formation which should have been formed earlier, based on the year of the Act’s promulgation,” Dr. Barimah added.
According to him, “The generality of GHAFTRAM membership see me as one of their own in bridging the gap between research and practice of traditional medicine in the country”.
Earlier, Professor Daniel Obeng-Ofori, Vice Chancellor (VC), Catholic University College of Ghana, who chaired the occasion, reiterated the relevance of THMP to health and well-being of humankind.
Prof. Obeng-Ofori however, bemoaned humanity and Ghanaians in particular for having lost a lot because of non-documentation of the volume of knowledge relating to the field of THMP by both practitioners in the past and even present.
He therefore commended Dr. Barimah for the publication of the book which he described as a treasure of health worthy of reading by every well-meaning Ghanaian to contribute significantly to achieve the best quality health care services delivery in the country.
Prof. Obeng-Ofori bought the first copy for GH¢1000.00.
GNA
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