Tema-Ghana, Dec. 21, GNA – Dr. Michael Tetteh, the Head of the Herbal Unit of the Tema General Hospital, has disclosed that there are 70 herbal units in public hospitals across the country providing herbal services to clients.
He said there are nine health facilities in the Greater Accra Region, including the Tema General Hospital, which has a Herbal Unit set up, explaining that the units take care of clients just as any other doctor does.
He said the inclusion of herbal medicine in public hospitals was in line with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) target to meet the health needs of all people.
Dr. Tetteh, who is also an Herbal Physician disclosed this during the weekly “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility! A Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office initiative aimed at promoting health-related communication and providing a platform for health information dissemination to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy
The Ghana News Agency’s Tema Regional Office developed the public health advocacy platform “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility” to investigate the components of four health communication approaches: informing, instructing, convincing, and promoting.
He added, however, that it was becoming difficult for the WHO to meet its target as it realised that people often made use of herbal medicine before going to hospitals to seek help, hence the resolve to integrate it into the mainstream health system.
According to him, in Ghana, the government also saw the need to put in place policies to support herbal medication as a way of regulating the sector, as it was evident that quack doctors were taking advantage of the system to sell unauthorised substances to people for the treatment of herbal medicine.
“So now, with these 70 herbal units, you can go to the hospital and opt for the approved herbal services,” he stated.
The herbal physician said the units were being run by well-qualified medics who have the requisite training to consult on illnesses, adding that the only difference in care had to do with them using the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)-certified herbal medications for the treatment.
He gave the assurance that, apart from emergency and surgical care, the herbal units have medications for all kinds of diseases, such as internal medical issues, gynaecological, neurological, infections, hypertension, and diabetes, among others.
He advised herbal medicine lovers not to experiment with unregulated medications when sick but rather visit their facilities to get proper care for all their illnesses.
