By Prince Acquah, GNA
Wusorkrom (C/R), Oct 12, GNA – The Centre of Awareness Research and Manufacturing Limited Company (COA RMLC) has called for the support of the medical community in Ghana to advance its quest for plant-based antidotes for various incurable diseases.
The Centre believes that plant medicine holds the solution to various endemic and chronic diseases such as HIV, hepatitis and cancers and therefore needs to be explored with science.
Professor Samuel Ato Duncan, the President General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, urged medical scientists and doctors to join hands with the Centre to conduct further research and provide imperical data to enhance its widely accepted herbal products approved by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
“Drug development goes through a lot of processes and it is only doctors who can actually certify whether products are truly working or not.
“This is the time we must come together to do something for our motherland Ghana. At the end of the day, if we are able to bring out medications from plants packaged and sent to the international market, I tell you honestly, Ghana will have another gold or something even more worthy,” he said.
Prof Duncan made the call when the Medical Superintendents’ Group of Ghana visited the Centre to gain insight into the operations of COA, particularly its manufacturing processes and how they could also help the cause.
The group, numbering about 100 heads of various health facilities across the country, was taken through the scientific process by which the Centre’s products such as COA Mixture and COA Plus Mixture were manufactured.
“We are thinking of doing something for Mother Ghana and so it is not just for COA alone; we need the scientific data to support whatever we are doing so that eventually it will be something for Ghana, Africa and the entire world,” he stressed.
Prof Duncan, who is also the President of Ghana Federation of Herbal Medicines, is on a mission to bring global peace to the world through medicine.
He was of the view that diseases were more dangerous than war and that to achieve global peace, it was critical to find lasting solutions to permanent diseases by concerted efforts.
He said the company was already working to finalise new medications for COVID, Ebola and other dangerous diseases.
Prof Duncan said he was leveraging his experience and understanding to improve indigenous knowledge to bridge the gap between traditional and orthodox medications.
“We cannot live without plants but we can live without gold and so we should protect the plants that we have, harness the potential, package them with science and send them out there for us to get foreign exchange to better Ghana,” he said.
He touted the potency and safety of the company’s products, indicating that they were produced scientifically and urged the medical superintendents to recommend them for prescription.
“The public should expect more quality products from COA research and manufacturing company and very soon, we will bring out the capsules which has been registered with the FDA,” he added.
Dr Kamarudeen Korku Hussein, the President of the Medical Superintendents’ Group and head of the Manhyia Government Hospital, commended COA RMLC for its exploits and pledged the group’s support.
He noted that the production of the Centre’s medicines was purely scientific in line with the dictates of the medical profession and therefore endorsed it.
“We recognise the fact that herbal medication can do a lot for the country. We need to assist, as orthodox practitioners, to let the world know that the herbs that we have around us are as potent as they claim they are,” he said.
“We are ready to support and we can assist by organising chemical trials in our hospitals to gather data to ascertain claims and testimonies people give about the medications,” he added.
Dr Hussein, however, observed that many orthodox practitioners did not have confidence in the herbal system because most of the herbal medicines were not produced with any scientific method.
He, therefore, urged government to eliminate the quacks and identify and support the genuine practitioners to restore confidence in the herbal system.
“Majority of the herbal medicines on the market are products of a few herbs that people have put together for sale.
“And so, if we can find a way to eliminate those quacks from the system, it is going to help us all,” he stressed.
GNA