The Eastern Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Association of Traditional Healers (GNATH), Nana Sika Ansaba, has called on government to establish a development fund to support and promote the herbal medicine industry.
Speaking to Adom News during the association’s Annual General Meeting in Koforidua, he said such a fund would help finance research, infrastructure, and logistics to improve the quality of herbal products and position the sector to generate foreign exchange for the country.
According to him, the traditional herbal sector is largely made up of indigenous practitioners with limited resources to advance their knowledge and operations. He also expressed concern over what he described as the association’s exclusion from public events and decision-making processes, urging local assemblies to involve them in relevant engagements.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Regional GNATH Taskforce Head and Operations Officer, Safa Aboagye, warned about the growing infiltration of unqualified practitioners into the industry, describing it as a serious threat to the credibility of traditional medicine.
He called for the enactment of new legislation and stricter enforcement of existing regulations to eliminate quack practitioners and safeguard the integrity of the profession.
