After decades of fighting for the formal recognition and acceptance of
their products just like western medicine, traditional medicine
practitioners appear to have now won the heart of the government.
This was as the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Wednesday
disclosed that his ministry was in the process of integrating
traditional medicine practice into medical school curriculum.
He also announced that following the rising abuse of codeine syrup,
especially in the northern part of the country, the ministry was taking
drastic steps to regulate the drug, stressing that it would henceforth
be treated as a narcotic that should not be sold over the counter.
Chukwu, however, hinged the veiled official recognition of herbal
medicine on the need for practitioners to go to medical school to equip
themselves with the requisite expert knowledge.
He promised a level playing field to all stakeholders in the health sector.
While assuring that he would continue to support the pharmaceutical
society in his official capacity, he called on herbal medicine
practitioners to always lay emphasis on diagnosis before prescribing
drugs to their patients.
He also said their drugs should be registered with the National Agency
for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and packaged for
export to earn money for the country.
The minister spoke when the new executive and board of fellows of the
Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) paid him a courtesy visit.
He said that government was committed to the development of pharmacy in
the country and had created an enabling environment for the local
pharmaceutical industries to thrive.
“We are in the process of inaugurating a National Drug Advisory Team
and launching National Drug Distribution Guidelines on February 7,
2013,” he said.
Chukwu added that regarding enforcement, the ministry was working to
ensure that the regulatory bodies carried out their functions
effectively.
The president of the association, Mr. Olumide Akintayo, commended the
Federal Government for initiating a drug distribution guideline for the
country.
He expressed optimism that the launching and implementation of the
guideline would sanitise the drug distribution system and eliminate the
unwholesome activities of dealers and peddlers of fake and counterfeit
drugs.
He called for the reconstitution of the board of Pharmaceutical Council
of Nigeria (PCN) to enable it perform its statutory responsibilities
and the representation of pharmacists on the boards of federal health
institutions.
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Yes the idea is ok , let see if they can discover d drug for dis pandemic.
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