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The managing director of GeoBert Herbal, Dr. Magnus Ebo Duncan has inaugurated a new factory and products at Assin Foso in the capital of Assin Central Municipal District, in the Central Region of Ghana. The purpose of the project is to produce herbal medicine products that are 100% natural and meet international standards.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new herbal centre in Assin Foso, he said, herbal medicine has contributed massively to human wellbeing. 

According to him, the purpose of this project is to produce herbal medicine products that are 100% natural and meet international standards. 

"The motivation is that people are gradually moving into the use of herbal medicine in the Ghanaian society after orthodox medicines have failed them. The herbs are all around us, and some are very easy to grow, so how long will we continue to ignore what is good for us? Technology has allowed us to explore herbalism in a way so that we can apply it to our everyday living".

The newly inaugurated family business was in honour of Dr Magnus Ebo Duncan's departed parents, Albert and Georgina Duncan.

Adding that, GeoBert Herbal has developed 23 medicinal products with Fourteen (14) of these products registered with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), and therefore are permitted for sale. 

Burn on producing unique and 100% natural, the centre has established a fourteen-acre farm where most of its raw materials are sourced. 

"For the roots, barks, and leaves of forest trees, they are purchased from people we have established contacts with within forest areas of Ashanti, Eastern and Western regions of the country. We have trained them on how to dry the raw materials so that they don’t develop fungi in them".

He concluded that the centre is very determined to get certification for their products to be included in the prescribed medicines for public health facilities by the Ghana Health Service to widen the marketing of the country. With the successful implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area(AfCFTA), we will penetrate other markets in Africa.

Mr Eduful, the president of GHAFTRAM commended Geobeart Memorial Herbal centre for adding another 100% natural herbal medicine to the Ghanaian market

Emphasising that the country's traditional medicine practising has thrived progressively over the years.

"The therapeutic effects of herbal remedies have been scientifically certified while others are backed up by robust traditional, historical and anecdotal evidence. Getting a herbal product certified by Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) means that the product has gone through rigorous certification procedures, starting from toxicity, phytochemistry and microbial analysis at the Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR) at Mampong Akuapem. Coming out with 14 FDA-certified products at a go is no mean achievement", he explained.

 Hon Fiifi Baako, the Municipal Chief Executive Officer of the Assin North Municipality in his remarks noted that the efforts made by Geobert Memorial Herbal Centre will go a long way to benefit the good people of Assin Central and the Central Region at large and added that the cultural and disposition and traditional belief systems have made it easier for the average citizen to believe herbal treatment and shun the orthodox medicine that has had serious side effects on consumers.

"The practice of traditional medicine in Ghana dates back to the pre-colonial era and has continued to thrive. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that about 80 per cent of the Ghanaian populace use herbal preparations in meeting their primary healthcare needs. Lack of access, high cost and perceived side effects of synthetic drugs have informed this preference. Our cultural disposition and traditional belief systems have made it easier for the average citizen to believe herbal treatment and shun the orthodox medicine that has had serious side effects on consumers".

"Though efforts have been made by stakeholders to modernise this sector and incorporate it into the health system, we are still a long shot away from home. The Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR), formally called the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM), Mampong-Akwapim was established by the Government of Ghana in 1975 by NRCD 344, as an Agency of the Ministry of Health, and was designated by WHO in December 1981 as a collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine, the first in Sub Saharan Africa", he added.