By Precious Mark
The Federal Government is set to begin the commercial production of traditional medicine as part of efforts to improve access to affordable healthcare.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, disclosed this on Friday.
Speaking on the place of traditional medicine in the health system, Salako said, “We may recognize that traditional medicine has been with us for a long time and for most Nigerians it’s probably the first and sometimes the only source of health care that they have.”
“And therefore, if we’re talking about universal health coverage, making health available to every Nigerian at their point of needs, where they need it, without financial hardship, we must think very seriously of this traditional medicine that has been with us for a long time,” he added.
The minister also stated that government was working to move traditional practice into mainstream healthcare.
“Nigeria has in the past been able to take traditional medicine from the corners of Babalawo’s and the community practitioners to the table of orthodox medicine practitioners,” he said.
Salako said he recently visited the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development where several products have been developed.
He identified processing, registration and clinical trials as key steps before the products can get to the public.
“For drugs or for herbal medicine to become available, there’s something that is called processing that has to go through. First getting it registered to confirm its safety and quality and then taking it through a clinical trial process that can determine its efficacy, its dosage, its side effect and even long-term adverse effects and so on and so forth,” the minister said.
According to him, the processes had not been pursued diligently in the past.
“This has not been diligently pursued over time but gradually government has started putting in the structure to be able to achieve this,” he stated .
He concluded, “Within the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare we now have a department that is in charge of traditional complementary and alternative medicine.”
The minister said the aim is to ensure that traditional medicines are safe, effective and affordable for Nigerians across the country.