By Patrick Obeng
Accra, June 18, GNA – Dr Mrs Anastasia Yirenkyi, Director of the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Directorate of the Ministry of Health, has expressed satisfaction that traditional medicine is fast becoming a viable option in the healthcare sector following decades of substantial growth.
Dr Mrs Yirenkyi expressed her joy at the opening of the Executive Prostate and Herbal Centre at Madina in Accra.
The Centre is a proud offshoot of Ganaherb Therapeutic, a leading producer of herbal pharmaceuticals in the country.
The facility consists of a Consulting Room, Ultra-modern laboratory, Ultrasound Department, Dispensary, Administration and Out-Patient Department.
Dr Mrs Yirenkyi who is also the Ag. Registrar of the Traditional Medicine Practice Council said the country had worked towards making traditional medicine safe and efficacious readily available, acceptable and accessible to all Ghanaians.
“Traditional medicine practice is now considered an integral part of the country’s healthcare delivery system, following the implementation of an integration policy, which incorporated herbal medicine services into orthodox healthcare,” she said.
She noted that two essential traditional medicine policy documents, namely, the Recommended Herbal Medicine List and the Basic Procedures for Herbal Medicine Products, were launched in 2021 to further augment the practice in Ghana.
“The integration policy alone has employed the services of over 500 medical herbalists who superintend at 55 units across the country providing herbal medicine services to the good people of Ghana’, the Director said.
She commended the management and the staff of the centre for their initiative and called on all to patronize traditional herbal medicine.
Dr Nutifafa Takyi, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, said the vision of the Centre was to make quality herbal medicine accessible and affordable for all.
He said despite his childhood dream of becoming a medical doctor being thwarted by unforeseen circumstances, he was grateful to the Almighty God for guiding him to become a Biomedical Scientist.
“Patients are assured of receiving high-quality, affordable, and comprehensive alternative healthcare, adding that the skilled professionals of the centre will enable “us to secure approval and ethical clearance from the Food and Drugs Authority to use the centre for clinical trials for numerous herbal drugs in the near future,” he added.
Reverend Professor Fred Amevenku, Director of Graduate Studies of the Trinity Theological Seminary, who chaired the function, called for the building of traditional and alternative medicine facilities in at least the regional capitals and the introduction of traditional herbal and traditional alternative herbal medicine curriculum into the medical and paramedical healthcare institutions.
GNA