Ogun Govt begins training of herbalists for global market

The government of Ogun State has begun the training of herbalists across the state as part of the plan to make them competitive in the global traditional medicine market.

The Executive Secretary of the Ogun State Alternate Medicine Board, OGAMB, Dr. Kafayat Lawal, disclosed this on Friday in Abeokuta while declaring open a one-day workshop tagged “Intensive Training for Herbal Medicine Manufacturers on Safety and Efficacy of Herbal Products.”

Lawal said OGAMB was established to standardise and regularise the practice of alternate medicine.

“One of the major challenges in the practice is standardisation. The Board will partner with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to design a strategy for promoting indigenous medicine, thereby generating revenue for the state,” she said.

In his lecture, the Head of the Department of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Prof. Alfred Jaiyesinmi, listed hygiene, dosage, referral and registration with government as germane to herbal practice.

“This will help to prove that the sub-sector is fully professional,” he said.

Prof. Jaiyesinmi urged government to invest in herbal plantations, as medicinal plants are going extinct.

In his remarks, a representative of the Commonwealth Traditional Healers Association, Dr Olu Adeola, commended the present administration for its efforts to develop alternate medicine.