African Traditional Medicine has gone global, practitioners urged to embrace technology - Babatunde Adele

----As Lagos Traditional Medicine Board celebrate African Traditional Medicine Day.

By Kayode Olopade 

The Registrar, Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board, Prince Babatunde Adele, on Tuesday urged stakeholders in the traditional medicine profession to embrace technology by improving research, develop and cultivate proper documentation of  their work, so as to be in par with  the way African Traditional Medicine is going  globally. 

Adele said this in his welcome address delivered at the occasion of the celebration of Year 2024 African Traditional Medicine Day, with the theme, Research, develop and have proper documentation" packaged  and sponsored by the Lagos Traditional Medicine Board, held at the Onikan Youth Center, Onikan, Lagos. 

The Registrar maintained that there is no doubt that with individual and collective commitments,  traditional medicine would become the only major avenue for achieving the protection and promotion of the health of all people of the World as encapsulated in the World Health Organization declaration of 1978 and various components of the global Sustainable Development Goals(SDG). 

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"Permit me to state that there is nothing that traditional medicine cannot cure, but let me at this juncture advice stakeholders in the traditional medicine to as a matter of priority embrace technology by improving their research, further develop and cultivate proper documentation of  their works,  because the African Traditional Medicine had gone global. There is no doubt that with individual and collective commitments,  traditional medicine  would become the only major avenue for achieving the protection and promotion of the health of all people of the World as encapsulated in the World Health Organization declaration of 1978 and various components of the global Sustainable Development Goals(SDG)", Adele said. 

He also disclosed that there is no gainsaying the fact that traditional medicine is the mainstay to achieving sustainable development and universal health coverage (UHC) as about 80% of Africa's population relies on traditional medicine for their basic health needs, adding that it is the only healthcare service available, accessible and affordable to many people on the continent.

"There is no gainsaying the fact that traditional medicine is the mainstay to achieving Sustainable Development and universal health coverage. In some instances, traditional medicine is the only healthcare service available", Adele said. 

Also in his keynote address at the event, the Deputy Director, Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board, Mr Bello Adediran, said traditional medicine has a significant impact on global health challenges including provisions of accessible and affordable healthcare options for undeserved population, complementing conventional medicine, but also emphasize that there that there should data base and proper documentation of all the work we are doing. 

Also in his remark, the Chairman, Lagos State Traditional Medicine practitioner, Baba Awishe Odufuwa, also encouraged members to be more advanced in technology and most importantly to be more united, so as to take the profession to a greater heights.

The event was attended by various health practitioners in the state..