Love for herbal products waning

Institutions that monitor the practice of traditional medicine in the country needs to be strengthened to flash out quack doctors, Hajia Balkis Yakubu, Madina Branch Director of Laskala Herbal Centre, said on Tuesday. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra, Hajia Yakubu noted that owing to the rise of self-professed herbal practitioners, patronage of plant medicine had dramatically fallen, stressing that implementation of strict monitoring system would help forestall the situation. "I know many Ghanaians who would prefer herbal medicine over the orthodox but are afraid to buy the herbs due to the operations of fake practitioners," she said. She said herbal medicine was the most preferred in many countries across the globe owing to its minimal side effects and its non-toxic chemical content. Hajia Yakubu called on Ghanaians to take the needed precautions to protect themselves against the medical challenges the upcoming harmattan season could present. She advised asthmatic and rheumatic patients to cover their bodies properly especially in the night before they go to bed. Hajia Yakubu observed that the harmattan winds are expected to blow dust into homes and therefore stressed the need for people to cover their food and drinking sources of water properly in order to avoid contamination. She said Laskala Herbal Centre, which has its Headquarters in Kumasi, is able to cure many ailments. Among the diseases the Centre could cure include hypertension, piles, asthma, rheumatism, skin itchiness, fibroid, irregular menstruation and arthritis. The Harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. It blows south from Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March each year.