FG urges NASS to expedite action on traditional medicine bill

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3 years ago

Dr Osagie Ehanire, Health Minister

The Federal Government has urged the National Assembly to expedite action on the TCAM Bill, which will provide the necessary framework for further development of the sector.

The government also pointed out that the time has come to put the medical knowledge and skills of the forefathers of the country on the front burner for greater value addition, in line with its aspiration to explore all avenues for Universal Health Coverage.

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, at a two-day maiden edition of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM) Conference organised by the Ministry of Health and the Office of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, disclosed that plans are underway to absorbs Traditional, Alternative, and Complementary (TCAM) medicine into the country’s Primary Health Care System.

According to Ehanire, “There need not be a controversy between orthodox and traditional medicine. It is instructive that a very high percentage of Nigerians seek and use traditional medicine, either as a matter of preference or as an addition to orthodox medicine. This reinforces the grounds for giving the traditional healing art a place in our health system.

“The Federal Ministry of Health will consider how to officially integrate Traditional, Alternative, and Complementary medicine in our Primary Health Care System. Before this is done, however, it is important that the practice is property regulated to assure health benefits accrue to our people.”

Earlier, the Minister of State, Health Sen. Adeleke Mamora, said Nigeria is endowed with over 10,000 species of Medicinal Plants, good arable land, good climatic conditions for harnessing the potentials of these plants for health, social, economic and national developmental goals.

Mamora further said that the key objective of the Conference was to promote the cultivation and utilisation of Medicinal Plants as a potential source of raw materials for the Pharmaceutical, Food and Cosmetic industries.

He said this was to create a short, medium and long-term value chain and attract agricultural business loans and Bank of Industry (BOI) Manufacturing loans to boost economic development in the country.

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“It was also important to note that Nigeria and other African Countries currently benefit minimally from the global herbal medicine market, projected at 7 trillion USD by 2050; and is currently dominated by China, India, US, Germany and Thailand.”

“Significantly, the cultivation of medicinal plants and commercialization of herbal medicines will attract huge economic benefits to Nigeria, especially in the following areas: increase foreign exchange earnings and wealth creation, alleviate poverty through the creation of job opportunities in areas of cultivation and conservation of Medicinal Plants in Nigeria.

“Assuredly, the FMoH is committed to developing and promoting Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Nigeria and is currently taking these pragmatic steps as follows;

“Initiated sensitisation programmes and activities to promote cultivation, commercialisation and use of indigenous Medicinal Plants in Nigeria; Facilitated the passage of the TCAM Council Bill into Law, to effectively coordinate and regulate TCAM practice in the Country.

“Proposed a State-of-Art TCAM Hospital in Nigeria. Inaugurated an Expert Committee that is currently working out modalities for the take-off of TCAM Institute for the training of TCAM Practitioners in Nigeria.

The First Lady of Nigeria, Mrs Aisha Buhari, in her remarks called on all stakeholders, especially the Federal Government to ramp up utilisation of its traditional medicines, especially in healthcare and economic development.

She noted that while alternative healthcare like acupuncture and ayurveda have been imported and accepted in the country, the traditional medicine potential remains under-utilised at less than 20 per cent.

“This conference is in line with this administration’s agenda of boosting non-oil exports, which will lead to commercial cultivation and medicinal plants for health, economic and social benefits. It will provide health and jobs for our teeming youths and women.”

Also, One of the Herbal Medicine Producers and Stakeholder, Dr Uzu Onyemaechi Robert, who is the Managing Director of Ruzu Holistic Healthcare Limited said the traditional Herbal Medicine sector needs government intervention in terms of grant and loan support.

Robert said there’s no loss when it comes to investment in herbal solutions industry as he called on the government to make budget for the sustainability of the sector.

“If there’s the budget of five hundred million to one billion naira, employment would be generated and foreign exchange would come to the government’s purse because herbal production is a value chain that would require a lot of manpower from sourcing for raw materials to marketing.”

Prof MacDonald Idu, a professor of Phytomedicine from the University of Benin, who gave the Keynote address at the conference, said if properly harnessed, the value of traditional medicinal plants in Nigeria would hit N1 trillion by 2025.

He put the current value at a conservative estimate of N200 billion, regretting that not much attention has been paid to harnessing the sector.

“We talked about $200 billion. It is conservative. I’m serious. Other forms of literature, that I have also read are going to hit about 1 trillion by 2025. I know what that means. That’s a lot of money,” he said.

“Nigeria I’m sorry, we don’t walk the talk. We talk a lot, but we don’t walk the talk. So my point of interest is to drag the hearts of our people to realise that we should diversify our economy.

“We don’t have any reason to be poor. That’s the real truth. We don’t have any reason to report everything that we need to survive. It’s already here.”

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FG urges NASS to expedite action on traditional medicine bill

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FG urges NASS to expedite action on traditional medicine bill