Traditional medicine practitioners to be accredited to join in NHIS

Koforidua, Sept. 7, GNA - The Traditional and Alternative Medicine Practice (TAMP) Directorate of the Ministry of Health (MOH) is to screen and give accreditation to traditional medicine practitioners who should be accessed by patients under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The Acting Director of the Directorate, Mr Peter Arhin, who announced this at Koforidua on Saturday at the end of the Fourth Traditional Medicine Week, said, to this end, a database of reputable and standardised practitioners is to be created and a legal and regulatory framework established.

This, he hoped, would also help facilitate the integration of herbal and orthodox medical practice in the health delivery system to complement each other through cross referral of cases for improved health delivery for the people.

Commenting on the celebration in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, he noted that the joint celebration of the Week and the First African Traditional Medicine Day, brought together over 600 practitioners, including about 40 exhibitors from Ghana and neighbouring countries to exchange experiences.

He said the combine support of the government, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and donors, in addition to media coverage, had contributed greatly to make an impact of this year's celebration locally and internationally.

Dr Joseph Lartey of the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM), Mampong-Akuapem, said traditional medicine had long being recognised worldwide, and cited the experiences of other countries in developing the system to provide alternative choice of health delivery to the people.

He advised the practitioners to also allow further research into their herbal preparations to ascertain their efficacy and safety to make them more readily acceptable by all for integrative health delivery service under the NHIS.

The Co-ordinator of the National Drug Information Unit, Mr Philip Anum, announced that a collaborative conference comprising his outfit, the MOH and research institutions, including the CSRPM, the Food and Drugs Board would soon be held to institute mechanisms for collating and creating a data base of traditional medicine.

He said the documentation could lead to some of the herbal drugs to be included in the MOH Essential Drug List as well as enable his outfit to provide adequate information on them to foreigners who enquire about them.

On his part, the president of the Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (GHAFTRAM), Dr. Anthony Normeshie commended the government and the WHO for efforts being made to promote the development and application of traditional medicine in the country. He assured that every effort would be made to eliminate quacks from the system to enable the country to benefit from the integration of herbal and orthodox medicine in the health delivery service under the NHIS.