The founder and lead physician at Dr. Forkuo Herbal Hospital at Pakyi number one, near Kumasi, Dr. Stephen Forkuo, has said that the importance of the herbal industry in healthcare delivery can no longer be underestimated.
He said herbal medicine and hospitals have served as viable alternatives to the mainstream healthcare providers in the country, especially during strike actions.
Dr. Forkuo who was speaking in an interview at his hospital said it is about time government invested heavily in herbal medicine production and administration to make them efficient in the provision of healthcare to majority of the citizens.
He was glad that the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) had introduced academic programs on herbal medicine, with students showing enthusiasm in learning courses on herbal medicine.
He enumerated some of the problems the herbal medicine practitioners face, that include; lack of access to credit facilities to help them expand, and the high operating cost they face in their practice.
Dr. Forkuo, who has undergone several years of training under renowned herbal medicine experts in the country, believes that if help is extended to herbal practitioners the government can in the long run cut down on its huge medical bill.
He believes that the herbal industry can also serve as a source of employment and when properly organised the sector can absorb the teaming youth who graduate from the tertiary institutions every year.
Although the Dr. Forkuo Herbal Hospital has been in existence for barely seven (7) months, the facility currently employs twelve (12) people and when its expansion is complete the facility will increase its workforce.
Dr. Forkuo who currently treats diseases such as typhoid, jaundice, syphilis, ulcer, high blood pressure, stroke, among others told this reporter that misconceptions about herbal medicine should be discarded and people should rather consider the positives of the sector to the socio-economic development of the country.
With its laboratory services, patients who visit Dr. Forkuo Herbal Hospital do not have to travel to other facility services when the need for laboratory test arises. This reduces their medical cost. Further with the introduction of sophisticated modern medical machines, the hospital has become the preferred destination of patients from far districts.
Dr. Stephen Forkuo in consulting.


Nigerians in Ghana commemorate anniversary of execution of Saro Wiwa
By: Bruce Misbahu Bulmuo
Nigerians in Ghana have commemorated the 20th anniversary of the execution of writer and renowned environmentalist, Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other human rights activists in Nigeria.
The nine activists were tried by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha in military style tribunals in November 1995 and were found guilty for their alleged involvement in the murder of four Ogoni tribal leaders.
The commemoration was spearheaded by the Ghana chapter of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) on Tuesday at the Kokomlemle secretariat of the All Nigerians Community in Ghana.
MOSOP was the organisation used by Saro Wiwa and his colleagues in their fight for the emancipation of Ogoniland from environment exploitation which was perpetrated by the multi-national oil company, Shell.
The trial and execution of Saro Wiwa and the 8 other activists received international condemnation with former British Prime Minister, John Major tagging it as “a judicial murder”. Nigeria was subsequently suspended from the Commonwealth along with other sanctions.