According to the Director Of Traditional and Alternative Medicine Directorate, Dr. Mrs. Anastasia Yirenkye for the nation to achieve universal health coverage, traditional medicine must be integrated fully into the main healthcare stream. She made this statement during the 20th Anniversary celebration of the Ghana Herbal Medical Students Association- KNUST.
She said the world and Ghana at large for the past decade have embrace Traditional medicine practice to complement the orthodox for healthcare delivery. Yet before the introduction of the allopathic medicine practice in Ghana, the population solely depended on traditional healers, faith healers, traditional birth attendants, the circumcisors et al for their healthcare needs even in the era of allopathic medicine ascendancy
she said, Traditional and Alternative medicine practice play a huge role in providing the health needs of patients in the country. Native doctors treat and prevent disease (both communicable and non-communicable) with the leaves, roots, and other parts of plants
Herbal medicine also plays a major role in the development of orthodox medications, she said. Since the advent of the Alma Ata of 1978, traditional medicine has seen significant growth globally. Ghana has made a great effort in incorporating traditional medicine in main healthcare stream particularly at the primary healthcare level.
During the alma Ata declaration was when traditional medicine practitioners were cited as part of the healthcare delivery team
She concluded by encouraging the students’ body to work more to achieve more although there has been a great accomplishment in the past twenty years of the Association.
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