“An upgrade in scientific validation and rigorous standardization of medicinal plants for herbal medicine production can harmonize the training of Traditional Medicine courses in medicine, nursing and pharmaceutical schools across Africa. As such, stakeholders in the Nigerian education sector must rethink the development of traditional medicine”. This was the highlight of the submission of the speakers at the webinar event, “World African Traditional Medicine Day” held on Wednesday, 31st August 2022.
The webinar which was organized in commemoration of the African Traditional Medicine Day held every 31st of August, was anchored by Dr Isa Usman Lawal, the Dean of School of Basic Medical Sciences, Skyline University Nigeria. The event featured prominent speakers such as Prof. Jones Olanrewaju Moody from Nigeria, Prof. M. Fawzi Mahomoodally from Mauritius and Miss Joyce Dzifa Hofe from Ghana.
While making his presentation, one of the keynote speakers, Dr Fawzi, discussed a few of the challenges hindering the smooth distribution of herbal medicine from the production site to the consumers. most especially in countries like Japan and India. The challenges according to him include a lack of documentation and proper validation of such medicines.
In his remark, Prof. Moody discussed different facets of Traditional Medicine, its merits and challenges which according to him include lack of enough research data, lack of financial support for research, lack of sufficient scientific validation or recipes, and conservative policies for endangered medicinal plants among others.
Bringing instances from Ghana, Miss Joyce gave a brief account of how far Ghana has gone in her effort to promote Traditional Medicine in Africa using some strategic milestones and regulations. “Currently, a degree Programmeme for Traditional Medicine is run by Kwame Nkruma University in Ghana, the first of its kind in West African Sub region”, she stated.
The event was concluded with an advocacy to promote African Traditional Medicine through mounting degree based courses in Universities across Africa. It was also agreed to encourage synergy through extensive collaborations between African countries in research and practice to champion African Traditional Medicine.