By Olalekan Awojodu
Abuja
The West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO), has unveiled its Official Publication christened the Second Volume of West African Herbal Pharmacopoeia.
The publication according to WAHO was in line with its quest to strengthening the institutionalisation of traditional medicine into national health systems.
Speaking at the launch cum12th Scientific Congress of Traditional Medicine Practitioners and Conventional Medicine Practitioners held in Abuja, the Director General of WAHO, Dr. Stanley Okolo noted that much gains have been recorded in the course of promoting traditional medicine in the last 20 year.
Okolo said, “The action plan being launched would create a political, economic, regulatory and scientific environment favourable to the development and protection by intellectual property of practices, products and practitioners in the sector.
” It also allows for research on medicinal plants, production of traditional drugs of proven efficacy and introduction of training modules on traditional medicine in health schools.
“Within the overall framework of the promotion of traditional medical services, positive results have been obtained in several areas, like developing national traditional medicine policies and regulations,”
The WAHO DG nevertheless reiterated the organization’s commitment to the development of homegrown solutions to health issues that affect the inhabitants of the West Africa sub region.
While giving a remark at the unveiling ceremony, the Chairperson of the occasion, Dr. Yirinkyi Anastasia told the participants that the move was to develop a strategy and to X-ray progress made so far.
This medium reports that the two decades (2001-2020) of traditional medicine decreed by Africa states formed part of blueprints accompanied by strategic actions for the adoption of essential tools for the institutionalisation of traditional medicine into national health systems.
The action plan it would be recalled was to guide states in achieving the set objectives and enhance collaboration between practitioners of conventional and traditional medicine.
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