The passage of a resolution on the integration of traditional medicine in global health care delivery systems at the just concluded 67th World Health Assembly (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, is a laudable development. It will, hopefully, help to bridge the gap between orthodox medical practice and complementary/herbal medicine for the benefit of mankind. This recognition of the value of traditional and complementary medical therapies is a big leap for these branches of medicine. The approval of their integration with orthodox medicine in global health systems deserves commendation. It is a confirmation that traditional medicine, which varies among countries and regions, has useful benefits that should be harnessed to improve medical care worldwide. We heartily welcome this development and urge a quick implementation of the resolution.
According to the WHO, the new strategy aims to build the knowledge base for national policies and strengthen quality assurance, safety, proper use and effectiveness of traditional and complementary medicine through regulation. Besides, the measure will also promote universal health coverage by integrating traditional and complementary medicine services into health care service delivery and home care.
The WHO resolution is long expected, considering the fact that herbal medicine is the foundation of the health care delivery system in many parts of the world, especially Asia and Africa. In fact, modern medicine derives from traditional or herbal medicine. It is on record that our forebears depended mainly on traditional medicine for their health care, long before the advent of western medicine that is largely based on chemotherapy.
This is the time to have a marriage of the two. Some diseases that defy orthodox remedies can now be handled with herbal medicines. The marriage between orthodox and traditional medicine is long overdue in view of their complementary roles in health care delivery systems of many countries. Asian countries, especially China and India, have for long used both traditional and orthodox medicine for the benefit of their people.
Countries should work towards ensuring that the integration of orthodox and traditional medicine is done in such a way that their health care systems do not suffer. There is the need for countries to develop curriculum for the study of traditional medicine in their universities as well as the study of herbal pharmacy in their schools of pharmacy.
While the new plan will significantly boost the practice of traditional medicine, it calls for standardization and better packaging of the medicines, as well as development of literature on appropriate dosages to avoid overdose and arbitrariness in prescriptions.
For this initiative to work, quackery and counterfeiting should be seriously checked. Government should immediately set in motion the machinery to make this transition seamless. Practitioners of the two branches of medicine should be sensitized on how the new development can assist health care delivery. This also calls for a drastic change in our medical curriculum so that aspects of traditional medicine could be studied alongside western orthodox medicine.
Schools or colleges of traditional medicine can be set up in existing medical colleges, or separate ones established, to educate practitioners of our traditional medicine on the rudiments of the new practice that would be in line with global best practices and standards. For Nigeria, this is a veritable opportunity to tap into the abundant medicinal herbs and roots that nature blessed the country with for the overall good of our health care delivery system. Nigeria and Nigerians can earn foreign exchange from the export of medicinal herbs and roots, as well as exportation of finished traditional medical products to other countries of the world.
There is also the need to understudy countries where the two different medical practices have been merged. We can borrow a leaf from Kenya and South Africa, where herbal medical practice is also well established and flourishing. Let all the tiers and agencies of government that have a role to play in the implementation of this resolution ensure that they do all that is required for it to take off as soon as possible for the good of the citizenry.
