KWASU don tasks govt on conservation of indigenous medicinal plants
By Ologundudu Victoria
A Professor of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Kwara State University, Malete, Emmanuel Oladipo Ajani has urged government to put in place strategies to manage and conserve Nigerian indigenous plants that are of medical importance.
He made the call on Wednesday while delivering the institution’s 9th Inaugural Lecture titled: ‘Man Versus Diseases: The Green Remedy’.
Ajani, who argued that many of these plants are already going into extinction as a result of industrial development, recommended a compendium of indigenous plants with potential and clinical benefits.
He said, “Sometimes in 2020, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire inaugurated a 20-member committee to fine-tune modalities for the establishment of the National Institute of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine. While this is recognized as a step in the right direction, it is however important to ensure that this laudable effort comes to limelight by removing all bottleneck against its realization.”
He furthered that one of the main policies of the Nigerian traditional medicine practice is to develop the mechanism for incorporating traditional medicine into the health care delivery system. He however added, “Since 2007, when this policy was formulated, no serious measure has been put in place for its realization. It is important to put this policy into effect now. This also should be done in line with patient’s choices, expectations and consistency with evidence on quality, safety and effectiveness.”
The professor said that the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Idu, Abuja, if well supported, has the capacity to translate Nigeria into a country that will not just be a dumping ground for less potent drugs, but rather be in a better position to develop more potent drugs from our endowed natural resources.
He also advised Nigerians to ensure that their choice of medicinal plants is guided by scientific validation through standardization, evaluation of purity and demonstration of its efficacy in animal model of diseases, adding that the use of the products must be guided by dosage.
