Lagos state government set to embrace herbal cure for coronavirus
The Lagos State government has declared its readiness to support herbal treatment and cure for coronavirus, with a call on traditional medicine practitioners to bring their herbal for clinical trials.
Penpushing reports that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu made this known at the celebration of the 2021 African Traditional Medicine Day held on Tuesday at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi who represented the Governor at the event, called on traditional medicine practitioners to collaborate with scientists to prove that their practice was statistically sound.
Penpushing further reports that, the Governor at the event themed, Traditional Medicine: Research and Development”, emphasised that state government is willing to be committed to the growth and development of traditional medicine.
“Africa is yet to find a cure to COVID-19, l, therefore, urge the traditional medicine practitioners, as the space is still open, to bring their medicine for clinical trials, under good manufacturing guidelines.
The Governor encouraged the traditional medicine practitioners to regulate themselves and not endanger the lives of the people of Lagos State, and also advised them to team up with orthodox medicine practitioners to know how their practice could be validated.
“It is important as medical practitioners that your mission is not to cause any harm but to prove that you can add value to the lives of residents of Lagos.Your utmost priority should be the wellbeing and welfare of your patients. We are going to regulate you to ensure sound practices of alternative medicine in the state,” he said.
Penpushing also reports that, Secretary to the State Government, Folashade Jaji in her remarks urged the traditional medicine practitioners to research cures for coronavirus, called on them to up their game so that traditional medicine could occupy the space it deserved, as well as need for them to be regulated and taken with applicable measures to avoid being abused.
The Chairman, Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB), Adebukunola Adefule-Ositelu, in his own speech said it was time for traditional medicine to take its place in the health sector and to be useful for all.
Penpushing reports that, Adefule-Ositelu emphasised that time had come for traditional medicine practitioners to work with orthodox medicine practitioners for people to have a choice, between the two, and urged everyone to embrace traditional medicine, noting that it was not fetish, fake, or foreign.
Penpushing further reports that, Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board, (LSTMB) Registrar, Olorunkemi Kadiku earlier in his welcome speech said the agency would continue to provide enabling environment, needed to unlock inherent potentials in traditional medicine, to the benefit of mankind.
The registrar enjoined stakeholders to cooperate, collaborate and support each other in the various fields of traditional medicine and equally uphold high ethical standards in the discharge of their obligations to patients and mankind.
“We are at a point in our onerous journey, in achieving parity and recognition accorded conventional healthcare practitioners and products, as such, all hands are needed on deck”, she added
Penpushing reports that, Kadiku noted that there was no gainsaying that traditional medicine was the mainstay to achieving Sustainable Development and Universal Health, pointing out that coverage as about 80 per cent of Africa’s population relied on traditional medicine for their basic health needs.
“In some instances, traditional medicine is the only healthcare service available, accessible and affordable to many people on the continent. Therefore, significant contribution of traditional medicine as a major provider of healthcare services in Africa and by extension, Nigeria, cannot be underestimated or controverted,” he said.
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