- Adeleke Mamora, the Minister of State for Health, has urged Nigerian universities to introduce Bachelor of Science Degree in Herbal Medicine as well as incorporate modules on herbal medicine in the curricula of health sciences students.
Adeleke Mamora, the Minister of State for Health, has urged Nigerian universities to introduce Bachelor of Science Degree in Herbal Medicine as well as incorporate modules on herbal medicine in the curricula of health sciences students.
This, according to him, could be achieved with the support of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
He added that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was willing to support researchers and manufacturers to formulate and commercialise indigenous medicinal products for the benefit of Nigerians in particular and humanity in general.
Mamora made this known at a press briefing to commemorate 2019 African Traditional Medicine (ATM) with the theme, ‘Integration of Traditional Medicine in the Curricula of Health Sciences Students in Universities in the African Region’, Friday in Abuja.
He noted that the theme for this year was a wakeup call to healthcare professionals to embrace traditional medicine and improve on it for the benefit of Nigerians.
Time, he noted, has come to demystify traditional medicine in Nigeria by using science to develop it for health, economic and national development goals.
According to him, the Ministry of Health was working assiduously to ensure submission of the Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Bill to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval and eventual transmission to the National Assembly for processing into a law.
He, however, noted that, “The development of traditional medicine in the country will provide jobs in the area of conservation, cultivation, and harvesting of medicinal plants; other benefits include manufacturing, distribution and marketing of medicinal products.
“The Federal Ministry of Health is currently reviewing the Nigeria Herbal Pharmacopoeia 2008 in order to incorporate more indigenous medicinal plants.
“In view of the contributions of institutions of governments as mentioned above, it is hoped that the desired standardisation of the practice and products of traditional medicine will be achieved in the shortest time possible
