307 Views Posted on 11-May-2011 under Editorials

The Centre for Scientific Research Into Plant Medicine last week saw a new Board of Directors who have been tasked to steer the day-to-day affairs of the centre.
This centre is the pivot of all the manufacturing herbal medicines produced locally and that the herbalists have had confidence in this centre for a long time irrespective of minuses that are found within that circle.
Some herbalists after obtaining certificates from this centre that their preparations are save for human consumption, begin to sell them or advertise them with confidence that their preparations have been approved which of course the country does not accept it as an enough research to stamp it as an approved product for the treatment of sickness.
The Health digest Newspaper can confidently state that Ghanaians herbal medicine research work has moved to an advanced level and better than what is done in the other parts of West African countries and thanks to the government’s concern on the production of the herbal medicines.
The step the Food and Drug Board has taken to stamp out the bad nuts from selling out poisonous concoctions to the innocent people is commendable and that we the Health Digest welcome the decision of the Director of the Food and Drug Board Dr. Stephen Opuni to have aggressively waged war on the bad nuts among the herbalists but same could go a long way to kill all the young or small local herbal industries.
Health Digest has chanced into some instances that medical doctor has director a patient with chronic disease to herbalist where the patient had been cured with her sickness.
Such herbal medicines that have the power to cure some serious diseases should not be condemned even if the medicine has not been properly registered.
The best the state can do for its medical research is to assist such researchers to complete their work and see its efficacy in the treatment of chronic diseases.
This goes to say the claims that some herbalists are making about cure for some viral diseases should not be condemned but has to be researched further to get to the bottom of their claims but if we decide to condemn them upright, then no further success could be achieved in the areas of treatment of diseases.
The Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine is one of the major part of the institutions in the country that facilitates the activities of the herbal medicine practitioners. It is therefore commendable for experienced researchers and stakeholders such as Professor S.K Owusu, Chairman, Dr. Sheikh Amin Bonsu, Professor T.C Fletcher, Dr. M.C. Ersuman, Mr. Peter Arhin, Mr. Abdulai Baba Salifu, Professor Lord Okine, and Dr. Stephen Opuni be serving on the board, we the Health Digest News still believe that Dr. Opuni’s membership may still post a threat to the herbalists and the stakeholders considering the bad blood he has with most of the practitioners including Semanhyia and the others who have been in one way or other hurt by Dr. Opuni through the use of the BNI.
Dr. Opuni’s presents on the board is likely to drive away most of the herbalists away from submitting their preparations to the centre for approval since he is right now contesting legal case against some them on personal grounds.
We still believe that Dr. Opuni may leave the office of the Centre when his term of office expire and become or invest in the herbal medicine industry which of course Ghana has had a history where many people leave that office and invest in the same industry.
The question remains that if he becomes a herbalist and for some reasons be it political or production error and is imprisoned by the BNI, what would be his comment about that government’s commitment to the growth of local herbal industry?
The unfortunate aspect is that the war against the herbalists is not supported by the ministry of health or Ghana Health service but all the time Dr. Opuni would let it appear that he is doing that to protect the interest and the welfare of the citizens to ostensibly get the support of the general public against the local herbal industry.
The fact is that the office where he is serving now as the director and as a board now have been established to assist the herbalists in producing quality herbal medicines but not to stop them from producing otherwise there are no need of such centres and that is why the Research centre are made to solicit for funds to support the industry.
The little advice we may have for him to get up and study the Chinese way and help the local industries to grow because the organic medicine is the best for the entire world.