Traditional medicine
The Traditional Medicine Practice Council in Ghana has sounded the alarm on the growing menace of quackery within the sector.
At a recent stakeholder engagement in Accra on September 4, the Council expressed deep concern over the risks posed by unqualified practitioners to the lives of citizens.
Traditional medicine, which involves the use of herbs, roots, bark, and minerals to treat various ailments, is a vital part of Ghana’s healthcare system, but poor standards and lack of enforcement of regulations have compromised treatment quality.
Currently, there are over 40,000 traditional medicine practitioners in the country.
The council during a stakeholder engagement to tabulate the emerging threats to practitioners, said its determined to ensure that traditional medicine practice meets the required standards to protect the public.
Chairman of the Council, Professor Ato Duncan, emphasized the need for a proper code of conduct among practitioners assuring that key interventions were being implemented to sanitize the system.
He stressed that the success of these efforts relies heavily on the support and collaboration of practitioners.
‘‘A lot is happening and we will need your support to make the sector better. We need to sanitize the system. We will establish the licensing and registration protocol. The code of conduct must be looked at critically’’ he said.
Registrar of the Council, Dr. Yakubu Yussif, expressed particular concern about the proliferation of psychic healers in the system. He revealed that the Council has begun clamping down on some quack facilities to restore sanity to the industry.
Dr Yakubu
A move that aims to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable individuals seeking traditional medicine remedies.
‘‘So the problem is both within and without. Nonetheless, the agency takes ultimate responsibility. Proliferation of unauthorized, online, traditional medicine practitioners, this we are all aware. They are really giving a bad name to the industry. Recently, in the Volta Region, we saw the news and what happened with some categories of psychic healers.
What is the TMPC doing? We get feedback because the government receives it. Ask the sector minister, and TMPC is the one who is asked, what are you doing? And this is why we are having these conversations. So my regional trip, which is, I’ve been to the northern regions. I’ve been to the Volta Region, I’ve been to the Central Region have unoffered some of these challenges where people complained about some of these key issues that are bothering them. We have to take steps to resolve it” he noted.
The Council hopes to integrate traditional medicine into the national healthcare system, making it a complementary and effective part of modern healthcare.
Source:Lovinghananews.com
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