Government urged to codify traditional medicine practices

The Registrar of the Traditional Medicine Practice Council, Dr Yakubu Tobor Yusuf, has urged the government to support the codification of traditional medicine to enhance healthcare delivery and protect the country’s cultural heritage.

He said this was prudent because traditional medicines are being combined with orthodox medicine to treat cancer and other diseases, affirming their efficacy and significance.

He was speaking at the Volta Traditional Medicine Heritage Conference in Ho, organised in collaboration with the Volta Regional Coordinating Council.

“We must codify our practices because India has done it. India has mystic ayouverda. Psychic practices that are now in our books. Let's write books. Let's get our young people to write our knowledge for us. This is the only way we can protect our knowledge”, he said.

He also entreated traditional medicine practitioners to take advantage of the government’s programme to expand pharmaceutical manufacturing.

The government is seeking to invest billions in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Traditional medicine is already providing employment. A complete value trade, providing employment for people that the government wants to harness and take full advantage of.”

“Let's prepare ourselves for such investment. The World Health Organization is calling on every nation to set standards. Let's do same here in Ghana. India has taken the lead. China has taken the lead. Let's follow through with practices”, he concluded.

He lauded the Ghana Health Service’s efforts to increase the number of facilities offering traditional medicine services from about 60 to 150 public health facilities.

Dr Yakubu Tobor Yusuf hinted that the Council would soon launch a “cleaning drive” to get rid of quacks and protect the integrity of the traditional medicine sector.

He also called for peaceful coexistence among practitioners in the sector.

The Volta Regional Minister, James Gunu, expressed concern about the gradual loss of interest in and confidence in traditional medicine and called for stronger collaboration between stakeholders to enhance and promote the practice.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to investing in research partnerships, improving human resources, and pursuing other initiatives to improve the standard of traditional medicine.

The CEO of Fafalidem Herbal Centre in Dzodze, in the Volta Region, Samuel Kofi Awute, entreated the government to increase investment in traditional medicine practice, urging his colleagues to transfer their knowledge into books.

The 2026 edition of the Volta Traditional Medicine Heritage Conference was themed “Honouring Tradition and Advancing Herbal Medicine”.

It brought together traditional medicine practitioners, spiritualists, researchers and people from academia, among others, to discuss a deliberate way to integrate traditional medicine into healthcare delivery