An association of traditional medical practitioners has called on the federal government to extend support to trado-medical professionals in its quest for a COVID-19 cure.
The practitioners, in Abuja, under the aegis of New National Association of Nigeria Traditional Medicine Practitioners ((NNANTMP), claimed that if the required funds to provide equipment in conducting research were available, the country would have saved billions used in purchasing vaccines from Western countries.
The President of NNANTMP, Dr Ibrahim Nakowa, said since the outbreak of COVID-19, local medicines had been produced by his members and were awaiting clinical certification from relevant agencies.
Dr Nakowa, while commending the federal government for ensuring that herbalists were not alienated in its policies, called for inclusion in the national budget for them to meet up with existing realities.
He said, “We can move traditional medical practice forward if the government can back us with funding. We know that our sister agency (orthodox medicine) is far ahead of us, so we want everyone to know that traditional doctors can do more, especially in finding lasting solutions to COVID-19. There are potentials in traditional practice in Nigeria, and it will pay more than going out there to find solutions.”
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