Bisola David
The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency has said that about 70% of Nigerians still use herbal remedies, which they claim have been used since the beginning of time.
The Punch reported that In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, the Director-General of the NNMDA, Samuel Etatuvie, claimed that the agency was not undermining the use of conventional medicine.
According to Etatuvie, one of their responsibilities was to investigate, gather, and record indigenous herbal items, and they had previously looked at 14 of them.
The DG further stated that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has listed five of the items, while the other products were still pending.
“The practice of natural medicine is as old as mankind, and orthodox medicine emerged decades after natural medicine, which is primarily used in rural areas.
Natural and conventional medicine are now being used in tandem in Nigeria and around the world.
Because there are no contemporary medical facilities in the rural areas of Nigeria, I can claim with certainty that more than 70% of Nigerians employ natural medicine practitioners.
He explained that every village has access to either herbal medicine practitioners or herbal products.
Natural remedies, according to Etatuvie, are used for a variety of objectives in addition to improving health. These include protection, disappearing, massaging, controlling color, and serving as traditional birth attendants, among others.
However, he asserted that the organization is dedicated to studying locally produced herbal remedies, which when properly utilized have the potential to increase the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
