Make traditional medicine practice part of health delivery system - GHAFTRAM

Ghana has seen considerable growth in its herbal industry, enjoying an enviable position in the sub-region and Africa as a whole, as the only country to integrate herbal medicine into allopathic medicine. 

It is for this reason that the Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association, GHAFTRAM, says it is determined to make traditional medicine practice an integral part of the health delivery system in the country.

Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (GHAFTRAM), says it is ready to support members with the help of the government and international organizations to upgrade their knowledge and skills both in Ghana and abroad. 

For a start, four of its members and a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Herbal Medicine, KNUST, Dr. Isaac Kingsley Amponsah, have successfully undergone training in Vietnam.

With support from GIZ, under the Access to high quality and affordable medicines in Africa and South East Asia, the five Ghanaians undertook the intensive training in Vietnam on good agriculture and collection practices, good manufacturing practices for herbal medicine production and also learn the success story of the integration of allopathic care and traditional herbal medicine at the Hanoi University of Pharmacy. 

The President of GHAFTRAM, William Kojo Odum Eduful and the National Organiser of GHAFTRAM, Nana Obiri told GBC’s Radio Ghana that the training trip will enable members to be WHO Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Agriculture Collection Practices compliant.

They acknowledged that though herbal medicine use is important to the health care delivery system in Ghana, it is however fraught with challenges. 

These include selection of essential medicines for the national essential herbal medicine list due to concerns of noncompliance with Good Manufacturing Practices, concerns of sustainability of herbal medicine production due to depletion of forest resources as majority of members harvest from the wild. 

The situation according to them is compounded by a half-baked integration of conventional and traditional herbal medicine at various hospitals in the ten regions under the ministry of health. 

As part of the training, visits were paid to community owned herbal manufacturing industries as well as private manufacturers, all of whom were Good Manufacturing Practice compliant. 

The lessons, according to them, when fully disseminated and implemented by GHAFTRAM members, will see the Ghanaian herbal manufacturing companies becoming good manufacturing practice compliant, a condition for quality and safe herbal medicines to serve the health needs of Ghanaians. 

The intensive training according to the GHAFTRAM officials has opened avenues for sustainable development of the herbal industry, as well as opportunities in the herbal sector. Ghana government can therefore explore to create jobs in the country.

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