Reps: Nigeria can generate $10bn yearly from herbal medicine industry

The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to provide an enabling environment for the herbal medicine industry with the view to harness over $10 billion in the sector.

The lawmakers gave the clarion call during the debate on the motion sponsored by Hon. Muraina Ajibola  (PDP-Oyo), who harped on the need for the promotion and standardisation of herbal medicine industry in the country.

In his lead debate, Hon. Ajibola argued that the use of herbal medicine in Africa has greatly elevated and enhanced the primary healthcare system as it is common knowledge that herbal medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicine in the world, indeed, it has been very well researched and documented in some countries.

He said: “The House is also notes the need to promote and standardise the herbal industry in Nigeria, as plants have always been a component of mankind’s health care system given that their leaves, fruits, flower, stem, bark and roots or even whole plants have themselves been used in the treatment of illnesses for more than 200 years now.

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“The House is aware that young generations of Africans have accepted the safe healing power of herbal medicine and the value of the local herbal industry in Nigeria has significantly increased, thus creating a good market for the indigenous pharmaceutical industry to thrive.

“The House also aware that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognises Traditional Medicine and Complementary Alternative Medicine and refers to “herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations and finished herbal products that contain whole plants parts of plants, or other plant materials, including leaves, bark, berries, flowers, roots and/or their extracts as active ingredients intended for human therapeutic use.

“The House is further aware that owing to the economic downturn, many Nigerians now resort to the traditional herbal system for their primary health care needs and in other parts of Africa, particularly West Africa, new drugs are not often affordable thus making over 60% to 80% of the population to rely on medicinal plants since herbal products in form of supplements, herbal teas, extracts and essential oils are easy to come by and are readily available.

“The House further notes that there is the need to educate traditional practitioners like herbalists, traditional birth attendants, bonesetters, diviners, traditional surgeons, spiritualists, etc in order to regulate and bring their services to an acceptable standard.

“The House observes that in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is one traditional healer to every 500 people which is grossly inadequate especially going by the WHO recommendation of one doctor to 600 people, hence the need to urgently accord herbal medicine the desired recognition.

“The House is convinced that herbal medicine has a bright future and that the Federal Government should fund the development of scientific herbal medicine, embark on training and re-training of herbal medicine practitioners, establish and implement policy framework for the standardisation of herbal medicine.

“The House is convinced that the herbal industry, if given the necessary incentives, could generate $10 billion dollars annually, with large scale cultivation and harvesting of medicinal plants which will provide sufficient raw materials for research, local production, industrial processing and packaging for export.

“The House is desirous of the need to raise the standard of African traditional herbal medicine to international standards through inter-country collaboration which will put African herbal medicine in an admirable and competitive position in the world health care system,” the Oyo lawmaker noted.

The House urged Federal Ministry of Health to pay more attention to the traditional healthcare sector as orthodox medical practice and traditional Chinese medicine are practised and taught together in Chinese medical institutions, in like manner specialised training in herbal medicine by pharmacy and medical schools are essential in achieving a sustainable height.

The lawmakers also urged Federal Ministry of Health to liaise with National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to promote effective monitoring, evaluation and regulation of herbal medical practice and ensure improved collaboration between traditional practitioners and modern healthcare professionals and researchers.

To this end, the House called on NAFDAC to sensitise the public that any herbal product without NAFDAC number should be discarded.

The House also mandated the Committee on Healthcare Services to interface with stakeholders to work out modalities of administering both the orthodox and herbal medicine on patients and also to ensure formal training of traditional herbal practitioners and report back within eight weeks for further legislative action.