ELS: MBN360 HEALTH
GHAFTRAM
The Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Associations has called on government to develop a single national standard for herbal medicines, warning that inconsistent regulation across agencies is creating confusion for manufacturers and stalling growth in the sector.
Nana Kwadwo Obiri, General Secretary of the Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Associations, made the appeal while speaking on the sidelines of an event bringing together traditional leaders, academics, industry players and students to discuss the state of herbal medicine training and research in Ghana.
Addressing the gathering, Nana Obiri argued that the herbal medicine industry currently operates without a single point of reference for quality and production standards, leaving manufacturers to navigate a patchwork of policies from different regulatory bodies that often contradict one another.
“It is time the Ghana Standards Authority comes out with a standard procedure for herbal medicines so that FDA will use it, Traditional Medicine Practice Council will use it, and industry will use it. Everybody will use it.”Nana Kwadwo Obiri
He said the absence of such a unified framework has left industry players struggling to keep pace with shifting requirements, noting that policy positions from the Food and Drugs Authority have at times changed from one day to the next, creating uncertainty for producers trying to remain compliant.
Nana Obiri further explained that regulatory inconsistency is not limited to the FDA alone, pointing out that leadership changes within bodies such as the Traditional Medicine Practice Council have historically resulted in the introduction of new, sometimes conflicting policies, leaving the sector without the stability needed for long-term planning and investment.
Concerns Over Hospital Procurement Practices
Beyond the call for standardisation, Nana Obiri raised concerns about how herbal medicines are being procured within Ghana’s public health system, alleging that most hospitals rely almost exclusively on products from the Centre for Plant Medicine Research in Mampong, despite the existence of a far broader list of approved herbal medicines.
He noted that the Ministry of Health maintains an Essential Herbal Medicines List, last reviewed roughly two years ago, which was designed to give health facilities a wider range of approved options to procure from. According to him, however, this list is largely being ignored in practice, with procurement concentrated around a narrow set of products from a single institution.
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Nana Obiri argued that this practice undermines the broader traditional medicine sector, since the Centre for Plant Medicine Research offers only a limited number of products relative to the full range of herbal medicines that have been vetted and approved for use.
He said this narrow procurement pattern risks starving other legitimate producers of market access, even when their products meet the required standards, and called on government to ensure that hospitals draw from the complete Essential Herbal Medicines List rather than defaulting to a single source.
Researchers Add Their Voice on Funding Gaps
The call for stronger standards was echoed from a scientific research perspective by Prof. Regina Appiah-Opong of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, who used her remarks at the event to press government and private stakeholders for greater financial investment in herbal medicine research and development.
She said adequate funding remains the single biggest constraint facing the sector’s scientific advancement, stressing that without sufficient resources, it becomes difficult to subject herbal products to the kind of rigorous evaluation needed to confirm their safety and effectiveness, including establishing accurate dosing information for patients.
Prof. Appiah-Opong proposed that stakeholders across government, academia and industry convene a dedicated meeting to map out the specific gaps holding back the sector, describing funding as the clear starting point for any meaningful reform.
A Sector Seeking Room to Grow
The gathering that hosted both speakers drew a large turnout of traditional leaders dressed in kente and ceremonial stoles, alongside pharmaceutical academics, industry representatives and students, with exhibition tables showcasing a range of herbal products including bottled preparations and packaged supplements, underscoring the breadth of Ghana’s herbal medicine industry and the stakeholders invested in its future.
Taken together, the concerns raised by Nana Obiri and Prof. Appiah-Opong point to a sector that continues to face structural obstacles, from fragmented regulation to limited procurement pathways and insufficient research funding.
Both speakers suggested that addressing these gaps would require deliberate, coordinated action from government agencies, research institutions and industry players rather than piecemeal interventions from individual regulatory bodies.
The appeals made at the event signal a renewed push from within the industry for policy coherence and stronger institutional support, with stakeholders framing the coming years as a critical period for determining whether the herbal medicine sector can move beyond its current regulatory and funding constraints toward more sustainable growth and wider access for patients across the country.
