THE NEED TO STANDARDIZE HERBAL MEDICINAL PRACTICE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

BY.
Dr. OKPO OJAH

Before such a laudable initiative by the members of the House of Representatives to ensure the passage of the bill on herbal medicine practice in Nigeria, the former Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor G.E. Osunde, in 2001 had declared the Agency’s determination to standardize herbal medicine in the Country. This is with a view to redressing the defects and irregularities as well as misgivings which have beset the profession in terms of its practice and products. Therefore, such a step as being carried out by members of the House of Representatives is highly welcome in view of the fact that herbal medicines are assuming greater importance in health care delivery in the country in spite of the apparent dominant role of orthodox medicine practice in Nigeria.

For it was in recognition of such importance of herbal plants that the World Health Organization (WHO) in its Alma-Ata declaration of 1998 recommended inter-alia the inclusion of proven traditional remedies into national drug polices and regulatory measures. This development necessitated the establishment of the WHO Traditional Medicine Programme (TMP) with the aim of facilitating the integration of traditional medicine into national health care system, and the promotion of rational use of traditional medicine through the development of technical guidelines and international standard in the field of herbal medicine. The Tradition Medicine Programme is also to act as a clearing house for the dissemination of information on various forms of traditional medicine. Indeed, it was in relation to such a favorable development that the National Agency Food and Drug Administration and Control in collaboration with Bio-resources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCB) in USA and the West African Pharmaceutical Federation (WAPF) in 1997 organized a two-day international workshop on “standardization and regulation of herbal medicines” which was aimed at establishing regulatory measures to ensure safe and rational use of herbal medicine.

Apart from such a workshop, the former Organization of African Unity (OAU) now African Union organized two international symposia on the value of traditional medicine, one in Dakar, Senegal in 1968, and the other in Cairo, Egypt 1975. There is non doubt that since then, many conferences, workshops and symposia have been held in most parts of the World and Nigeria in particular. Retrospectively, it is difficult to quantify the contributions of traditional medicine to the cultural life of indigenous Nigeria society. Accordingly, during the pre-colonial era, traditional medicine controlled unchallenged the entire domain of the healing industry and the healing art in Nigeria and Africa in general. But with the advent of colonial rule in the country, a rule that disparaged everything indigenous as primitive, inferior and illegal, the traditional medicinal practice became a clandestine affair. To that extent, a lot was lost that may never be recovered in terms of instant multifaceted potency of certain herbs and roots. But it is relieving to observe that with political independence, the hardcore of traditional medicinal healing science and the well-founded healing arts in the country have survived to blossom these days. In other words, one is proud to see that with the gradual revival or renaissance of Nigerian culture in general, traditional medicine has assumed its rightful place of importance in the Nigerian environment.
Given such a dynamic resurgence, the country’s traditional medicine has effortlessly been competing with imported western medicine which was well received and left behind as the colonial heritage within the context of the western civilization which Nigeria and other African countries also inherited from colonial masters. Thus both in the rural and urbanizing communities of the country, the practice of medicine is now a comfortable mixture of both the alternative (traditional medicine) and the orthodox systems. This situation is imposed by the majority of the clientele who realize the benefits of the two systems. This cultural ambivalence of the people is capable of enhancing smooth integration of the two aspects of medical practice. It is against this backdrop that one welcomes the move by the House of Representatives to ensure the passage of the bill on herbal medical practice in Nigeria. Such a measure is bound to eliminate the various criticisms often leveled against the practice of traditional medicine such as general secrecy, dirty environment, absence of gainful motives, motion or association with the spirit of the ancestors in the comsogomic sense, the use of rites and rituals and ceremonies in the treatment processes, the over-dosage as well as illiteracy associated with most of the traditional healers.
Such a measure will also facilitate open and healthy competition between the orthodox and alternative medicine practitioners as well as encourage the exportation of traditional medical products abroad for foreign exchange earnings as against the current overseas medical trips by many Nigerians where fifty billion Naira has been spent over the years. It is therefore up to the traditional medicine men to accept the challenges of the standardization measures being put in place by NAFDAC and the members of the House of Representatives. Other relevant agencies connected with this project should co-operate with the National Assembly in order to enhance the auto-centric growth and development in traditional medicine in Nigeria as witnessed in China, India and other countries in Asia in synergic medicinal practice.


Source: Recorded live from FRCN daily commentary