(Being the concluding part of the
interview between Dr. Bola Olaosebikan, the founder of Healthcare Herbal
Products, and Nigeria Natural Health Online’s editor, Dumbiri Frank Eboh. The second
and the first part were published on Wednesday and last Saturday respectively)
Government Can Still Do More For The Nigerian
Herbal Industry
It is
true that government is trying it’s best to promote the herbal industry in
Nigeria; but I think it can still do more for that sector of the economy. And
that is why Healthcare Herbal Products has taken the initiative to launch an
advocacy for State government in the country to bring out policies that will
encourage and promote the practice of natural and herbal medicine in their
respective states. This will make every state to develop their own medicinal plants;
there should be medicinal gardens in every state. Practitioners in the industry
should also be registered; they should be brought together so that training and
retraining programmes can be organized for them. The experts among them should
be invited to set up the system in different places, this will go a long way in
safeguarding the health of the people and reduce, if not eliminate, the
incidence of quackery and excessive claims by people who just want to sell
anything to the unsuspecting public. Some of this people bring out a product
and say it can care a thousand and one ailments, which is untrue of course but
it is still happening in many rural communities in Nigeria.
But if government
brings in openness and infrastructure, the situation will improve. Government
can even set up a laboratory where practitioners will come and do their tests.
Most of these people do not have the money to go to private labs to do their
test. This will also help to gain the confidence of most traditional medicine
practitioners most of whom are hiding their formulas for fear that these
formulas might be stolen if they should go to private labs to do their tests.
Over 70 percent Of Nigerians Depend On
Traditional Medicine
Developing
traditional medicine in Nigeria is very important because it is a sector that
is taking care of over 70 percent of the Nigerian population.
This is
glaring because of the poor health system in this country. What is the strength
of our health system? How many Doctors and Hospitals do we have for the entire
population of Nigeria which is over 180 million people?
The TBAs
(Traditional Birth Attendants) are also playing a major role in our rural
communities. Many deliveries are taking place by TBAs in the rural areas. These
should be trained so that we can reduce infant and maternal mortality. Women
suffer a lot in rural areas because there are no hospitals, there are no
maternities. I once worked in a state where I was a member of the hospital
management board and I was the Chairman of the district. The Oba of that town said
one of the seven things he wanted to achieve for his people was to have a
health centre and I eventually helped him in achieving that. It was even one of
the things that CNN documented when they came here to interview me. In that
town, the women usually trekked a long distance before they could get health
care which of course is not good especially for heavily pregnant women that are
near delivery. But the story has now changed for the people of that town called
Imota, located near Ikorodu in Lagos.
So
government can train TBAs and give them delivery kits to enhance their
practice. Some of them are using blades that are not sterilized to cut
umbilical cord which could lead to tetanus. If proper care is not taken, both
mother and baby could be infected with life threatening diseases. Indeed there
need to be a collaboration between traditional medicine Practitioners and government
in terms of establishing centers where practitioners can access them.
The China Example
In China
when you get to a hospital, you can decide whether you want to see an orthodox
doctor or a traditional medicine practitioner in that same hospital. All you do
is make your choice. If one of them cannot do it, you are referred to the
other. You find that traditional medicine now uses modern technology,
practitioners now use labs, they now tell their patients to go and do scan.
They don’t just throw something on the floor to diagnose your ailment as it was
done in the past. Now they use X-ray, they use ultrasound. Same way, orthodox
doctors are also integrating herbal medicine into their practice. So you may
say that the orthodox are practicing traditional medicine while the traditional
medicine practitioners are practicing orthodox medicine. This kind of
collaboration is called Complementary Medicine and it is the way to go in our
present society. We also tell traditional medicine practitioners not to go
beyond their bounds; they should not go into surgery in other not to endanger
lives.
So,
there should be a clear goal and objectives for government at various levels to
enhance the practice of herbal medicine with clear goals and clear vision. And
I think the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology is doing something in
this respect the Federal Ministry of Health is also on it. At the global level,
there is a proper recognition of natural medicine by the World Health Organization
(WHO). There is even a day approved by the WHO to celebrate natural medicine;
it is called Traditional Medicine Day.
It is
expected to be celebrated every August in every country. It is left for
individual government to key into it and implement it. Indeed if we must
achieve health for all, it has to be through traditional medicine because it is
cost effective. But government must ensure that practitioners meet standard
requirement.
Healthcare Herbal Products In The Near Future
We see
Healthcare Herbal Products becoming a household name, we see it becoming the
first port of call for users, we see it distributed in every pharmaceutical shops
in Nigeria. We see it being prescribed by doctors across the country. We also
have a plan to have our own institutes so that we can do more research and
training programmes. That way, whenever we talk of herbal Healthcare in
Nigeria, we will be the flagship brand in the country.
Of
course there are big brands currently in the country; they are doing very great
and I commend them. But at Healthcare, we are positioning our brand as natural
herbal solution with a scientific foundation. That actually is the difference
between us and the crowd.
We also
have a publication that educates people on health and wellness. It is the first
health magazines in Nigeria, its started in 1986 and has been running for 31
years. It was the magazine that actually gave rise to the product because
people were saying they had read the articles but they wanted something that
would help them tackle there health issues some of which orthodox medicine
could not tackle. That was how we decided to look into that area in order to
bring genuine change and relief for the people. And ever since, it’s been a
wonderful experience. Our dream is not just to be the best in the country but
to spread all over Africa.
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