Health News of Monday, 10 March 2014

Source: Graphic Online

The Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Ayittey, has underscored the need for traditional medicine to be given a significant boost in order to ensure its viability as an option to improving health in the country.

According to her, it was important to accelerate the implementation of national traditional medicine policies which would ensure that traditional medicine products were safe, affordable and accessible.

Such a move, she said, would offer the added advantage of protecting intellectual property rights with the view to preserving traditional medicine knowledge and resources.

Ms Ayittey was speaking at the induction ceremony of newly qualified nurses and midwives of the southern belt in Accra last Friday.

WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy

Ms Ayittey said steps needed to be taken following the release of an updated traditional medicine strategy aimed at ensuring that World Health Organisation (WHO) countries in the Africa region used that option with maximum benefit.

The aim of the updated strategy, she noted, was to contribute to better health outcomes by optimising and consolidating the role of traditional medicine in national health systems in Africa.

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Policies to boost traditional medicine needed