Nigeria documents over 10,000 medicinal plants

The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) has documented over 10,000 species of medicinal plants in its move to boost the country’s traditional medicine sector.

According to the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), the documentation is part of the agency’s efforts to develop and promote traditional medicine.

The NNMDA Director-General, Professor Martins Emeje, who spoke to Fellows of the Africa Disease Reporting Fellowship (ADReF) during a visit at his office as part of the fellowship, stated that the documentation is a critical step towards harnessing the potential of traditional medicine in addressing the country’s health challenges.

“Every plant that is useful in treating one form of disease or the other in Nigeria has been documented by my agency. We believe that one of the best ways to move forward is to concentrate on the area of expertise.

“This would make us move forward. For every ailment, the solution is in that environment the disease exists.

“We are doing massive digital registration and documentation of traditional medicine and products in Nigeria.

“We have mapped out all the 774 local government areas in Nigeria to enable us get the digital database of all traditional medical practitioners across the country. This is a step towards standardisation”, he said.

He also said that NNMDA has established a database of traditional medicine practitioners and products, which is expected to enhance the quality and safety of traditional medicine services.

The Fellows also visited the Zee Herbal Pharmacy where the CEO, Zainab Ujudud Shariff, a traditional medicine practitioner and proprietor of Zee Herbal Pharmacy disclosed that 80 per cent of people living in the rural areas patronise traditional medicine, urging the media and other stakeholders to improve on it rather than castigate it.

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