About a month ago, the Ghana Association of Medical Herbalists (GAMH) lamented that the Ministry of Health had delayed in the testing and approval process of about thirty-three (33) drugs for COVID-19 submitted to the Ministry by the Association.
The Association disclosed that these herbal medicines submitted to the Ministry of Health were already tested by the Mampong Center for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine and has been registered by the Food and Drugs Authority.
However, the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, in an interview with Kwame Afrifa Mensah on the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show, explained that the Ministry does not need to re-approve herbal drugs which have already been approved by the Food and Drugs Authority before COVID-19 broke out.
He noted that reapproving such drugs might give the impression that these drugs provide a cure for the COVID-19 pandemic when they are actually immune boosters.
“We don’t need to reapprove local immune boosters because we don’t want people to interpret it as a cure for Coronavirus. The fact that you take these immune boosters does not guarantee that you will not contract COVID-19. However, it reduces the risk of contracting it”, he said.
He advised that Ghanaians should take good care of their health rather than solely relying on immune boosters. He recommended that people should take in more citrus fruits to boost their immune system with vitamin C.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
