By Asma’u Ahmad
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Sunday called on the Federal Government to establish a national institute for the promotion of herbal medicine in Nigeria.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Moji Adeyeye made the call in an interview with a newsmen in Abuja.
She explained that traditional medicine was too important to be ignored in the healing process and promotion of healthy living.
Prof. Moji Adeyeye
She said that several meetings had been held with stakeholders on how to promote herbal medicine in the country.
“Government should support the idea to establish a National Institute of Science that will conduct researches for the benefit of humanity.
“The approved herbal products do undergo limited testing due to inadequate resources and we need to add more tests on we what we have been doing.
“We have been working seriously to promote herbal products, there may be a conference by the end of the year on herbal medicine.
“I personally went into a research on herbal medicine because of the experience I had on my niece, where herbal medicine did wonder by curing her ailment beyond one’s imagination” she said.
She stated that some developed countries had really keyed into making judicious use of herbal products. According to her, 75 per cent of drugs used in China are traditional herbal medicines.
Adeyeye, a Professor of Pharmacology said that Nigeria had lost so much by not using herbal medicines.
