LOVERS of traditional medicines in Nigeria must  hear this. Any herbal medicine to be used in the country must have gone through a scientific evaluation in order to minimise the rampant cases of negative health consequences arising from use of such medicines. This is the latest directive by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.

 

Director General of the Agency, Dr. Paul Orhii, argued that  as a result of the complexity of herbs in particular, traditional medicines must be subjected to scientific evaluations in order to guarantee their safety, quality and efficacy.

 

Orhii, who spoke in Lagos at the opening of the 13th African Traditional Medicine Day event, expressed worry over alarming reports of negative health consequences caused by use of herbal medicines and called for total subjection of herbal products to rigorous scientific evaluations like conventional medicines.

 

Speaking at the event with the theme: “Regulation of Traditional Medicine Production in the African Region”, Orhii maintained that  the long term use of traditional medicine is not a guarantee for its safety as any medicine, whether traditional or conventional, can cause health risk.

 

 

NAFDAC’s Director, Drug Evaluation and Research Directorate, Mrs. Titilope Owolabi, who spoke on behalf of the DG,  noted that although there has been an upsurge of interest in the use of traditional medicine in developed countries, primary concern regarding traditional and complementary therapies remains safety of the consumer.

 

“Safety is the starting point in evaluation of traditional medicines and procedures. Reports of the patients experiencing negative health consequences caused by the use of herbal medicines are on the rise. Thus, the role of NAFDAC as a regulatory cannot be over emphasised.” He said to ensure safety and quality of herbal products, the agency has established standards and appropriate guidelines for the production, listing and registration of herbal medicinal products in Nigeria among others.

 

President of the National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners, NANTMP, Prof. Omon Oleabhiele advocated for the creation of a mandatory traditional medicine board in all states of the Federation to effect a perfect regulation of traditional medicine.

 

By Chioma Obinna

Vanguard