The President General of the COA Research and Manufacturing Company Limited, Professor Samuel Ato Duncan has called on Medical Professionals to work closely with practitioners in the Plant medicine industry in order to unlock its full potential. Delivering his acceptance speech as Chairman for the 20th Annual General Conference of the Medical Superintendents Group at Obuasi on Wednesday, Professor Duncan observed that the time has come players for Orthodox Practitioners and their counterparts in the herbal sector to collaborate towards building a stronger healthcare delivery system.

He noted that Integration of herbal and orthodox medicine commenced a few decades back. By the year 2002, the government passed the Traditional and Alternative Medicines Act,2000, Act 575, with the mandate to promote, control and regulate traditional and alternative medicines practice, to establish the Traditional and Alternative Health Practice Council and to provide for related matters.

This Act, he said, brought about the establishment of the Traditional Medicines Practice Council, TMPC, under the Ministry of health.
He noted that the Ministry of Health working has since increased the number of herbal medicines on the Essential Herbal Medicines list with the current number at 102 products while 55 herbal Clinics have also been established in selected hospitals across the country.

These, according to him, demonstrate the commitment of the Ministry of Health and its stakeholders to integrating traditional and orthodox medicines in Ghana.
He observed that government has done its part by investing resources towards a meaningful integration and the responsibility lies now with the two major drivers of the integration. He challenged both parties to do away with prejudices against each other as they strive to build a system that is resilient and will last a lifetime.
He said the herbal practitioners requires the support of medical professionals, scientists and researchers in order to undertake observational studies, clinical trials and other key research in other to bring their products to globally acceptable standards.

He therefore lauded the Medical Superintendents Group for choosing to focusing on the integration of herbal and orthodox medicine throughout the 4-day conference. He expressed the preparedness of herbal practitioners to work closely with the medical intellectuals to make the integration a success.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye on his part challenged the stakeholders to be mindful of the standards required in building a sustainable integration. He appealed to the medical professionals to engage with the relevant stakeholders as well as regulators in order to streamline their operations.

The Asakyirehene Nana Mensa Bonsu, who represented the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II as the Special guest of honour, recounted the role of herbal medicines in the health and socio-economic development of Ghana over the years.
He encouraged participants to brainstorm and adopt practical strategies towards giving meaning to the integration of herbal and orthodox medicines in Ghana.