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TRADITIONAL  MEDICINE

The World Health Organization states that “Traditional medicine refers to health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being.”

 

It also states that “Countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America use traditional medicine (TM) to help meet some of their primary health care needs. In Africa, up to 80% of the population uses traditional medicine for primary health care. In industralized countries, adaptations of traditional medicine are termed “Complementary“ or “Alternative” (CAM).”

 

For more information on the activities of the World Health Organization on traditional medicine, check its website at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs134/en/

 

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) 1 of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. is the Federal Government's lead agency for scientific research on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

 

The mission of NCCAM is to explore complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science; train complementary and alternative medicine researchers; disseminate authoritative information to the public and professionals.

 

NCCAM sponsors and conducts research using scientific methods and advanced technologies to study CAM. CAM is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine.

 

Ghana is one of the few African countries which have made remarkable progress in the promotion, development and practice of traditional medicine as part of their healthcare delivery systems. The Government of Ghana on 23 February 2000 passed the Traditional Medicine Practice Act 595.

 

The Act defines traditional medicine as "practice based on beliefs and ideas recognized by the community to provide health care by using herbs and other naturally occurring substances" and herbal medicines as "any finished labelled medicinal products that contain as active ingredients aerial or underground parts of plants or other plant materials or the combination of them whether in crude state or plant preparation" (31).

 

The Act establishes a council to regulate the practice of traditional medicine, register practitioners and license them to practice and to regulate the preparation and sale of herbal medicines.

 

Because of the importance Africa First, LLC attaches to the development and promotion of traditional medicine, it has acquired  its own farm where it is propagating various medicinal plants. Africa First is networking with local traditional herbalists, botanists, agriculturists, conventional medical practitioners and relevant bio-medical institutions within Ghana and overseas in applying both indigenous knowledge and scientific technology for the manufacture and dispensation of affordable, safe and efficacious natural medicines to deal with current and emerging diseases.

 

There is concern that a growing herbal market and its commercial benefit might pose a threat to biodiversity (the variety and abundance of life on our planet) through over harvesting (if not controlled) of the raw material for herbal medicines and other natural health care products.

 

It is the aim of Africa First LLC through its Tepa Medicinal Farm to ensure that important plant species and trees of medicinal and commercial value now threatened around the world by over-exploitation and other forces, but are planted and protected from total extinction.