The Reverend Dr. Samuel Worlanyo Mensah, an independent Presidential hopeful and an economist, has promised to build at least 16 regional herbal hospitals and one each in all districts when voted into power.
Rev. Dr. Mensah added that this initiative would help provide better alternative healthcare delivery in the country.
He said this when delivering a lecture at the Nyarkotey second public lecture and book launch on the topic “Contribution of herbal medicine in the Ghanaian health care centre.”
He noted that considering the contribution of herbal medicine in the healthcare sector, it was prudent that herbal medicine be given attention and the needed finances to facilitate its effective operation.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), he mentioned that, if voted into power, his government would put in policies, programmes, regulation frameworks, laws, and policies that will govern and control the activities of herbal practitioners and herbalists in Ghana to ensure that every herbal practitioner has a certified license to operate.
“Also, every individual who is interested in the herbal sector should go through some form of formal education and training that will help them obtain much knowledge in their field, especially when it comes to diagnosing patients of their ailment and prescribing effective herbal drugs for treatment,” he added.
Rev. Dr. Worlanyo expressed the belief that when effective formal education was given to herbal practitioners, they will be able to manufacture drugs with rightful dosages to cure diseases with limited side effects, which would help reduce the rate at which the country imported drugs.
According to him, in the manufacturing of drugs, DNA was considered for its effectiveness and efficiency, claiming that medicine from the Western world did not account for the DNA in Africa.
“I think that it is important that Africans, especially Ghana, deliver our health care system with the manufacturing of herbal drugs that are environmentally friendly with fewer side effects,” he said.
The independent Presidential hopeful mentioned that Ghana was blessed with greenery and trees with medicinal value and could be a great initiative to boost the healthcare system if attention was given to them.
He added that as part of the initiative to ensure that practitioners were licensed to operate, he would also reinforce the council for scientific and industrial research to support herbal practitioners in building their capacity in the manufacturing of drugs.
He therefore advised all herbal practitioners and interested people to seek some form of formal education and training for producing and prescribing herbal medicine, indicating that with that, Ghanaians would have trust in herbal medicine and patronise it.
Rev. Doc. Worlanyo also pleaded with eligible voters to vote for him, as he had many policies that would ensure employment, technical and vocational training, especially for the youth.
He also asked Ghanaians to avoid tribalism and vote for a leader who had every individual’s interest at heart.
