By Tony Edike
THE reluctance of herbal medicine practitioners and inadequate coordination of their activities have been identified as being largely responsible for  non-integration of herbal medicine into the nation’s health care system. Director General of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC)  Dr. Paul Orhii, who disclosed this in a paper presention at a symposium by Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories in Enugu opined that even though use of traditional and herbal medicines is widespread in the country,its integration into the national healthcare system had remained problematic.

South East Zonal Head of NAFDAC, Mr. Festus Anumba, who spoke on behalf of the DG listed  a host of other factors miltating against the integration process, but said all hope  was not  lost as government had launched the traditional medicines policy as a monumental landmark and evidence of the present administration sense of direction, commitment and involvement towards integration of herbal medicines.”

He said regulations and guidelines have been developed by NAFDAC to encourage manufacturers of herbal medicines to register their products in order to improve their acceptability.

Earlier, Rev. Fr. Anselm Adodo, a management staff of Paxherbals, said the workshop on the role of herbal medicine  in primary health care in Nigeria was aimed at drawing  attention  to the huge potentials of African traditional medicine as a health care provider and as an instrument of wealth creation.

“In doing this, the overriding interest must be how to integrate herbal medicine into the mainstream of national healthcare system, intellectual property rights protection for traditional medicine practitioners, speedy passage of the Traditional Medicine bill, and government support for documentation, standardization and protection of herbal plants from extinction due to human activities.”