The Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) has called for the standardisation of traditional medicines and their teaching in schools.

Its director-general, Martins Emeje, said this during a media parley organised to induct members of the media as ‘Journalists for Traditional Medicines’.

The virtual media parley was themed, “The Media as Natural Medicine Ambassadors.”

Mr Emeje said 80 per cent of traditional medicines were highly effective in addressing health challenges, without pronounced side effects.

He noted that allopathic medicine and its composition were being taught in Nigerian schools, stressing that the same pride of place should be accorded traditional medicines.

The D-G discredited some claims that traditional medicines do not have dosage, adding that they were already applying nanotechnology to their composition.

“We are in an era where we are applying nanotechnology to traditional medicine and we shall be reinforcing our research and development models.

“The same way you enrol in school to learn pharmacy, we can also learn traditional medicines in school, and it does not necessarily need to be taught by a professor with degrees,” he said.

Mr Emeje emphasised that Nigerians should be proud of their roots, adding that traditional medicines were sustained in the past, hence the need for it to be standardised.

He recalled that the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) recently accredited NNMDA as the awarding body for the National Skills Qualification in Traditional Medicine in the country.

Mr Emeje added that NBTE was already training its staff on quality assessment and implementing a curriculum as criteria to be qualified as a traditional medicine practitioner in Nigeria.

“We will be having traditional medicine database development, training of traditional medicine practitioners, training and documentation of Nigeria’s biodiversity and tackling antimicrobial resistance.

“We are going to work with religious medicine practitioners and native medicine practitioners at all levels in order to enhance their practice.

“There must be standardisation of natural medicine across the board, and we have to develop standards with stakeholders, and we are not going to copy any country’s style,’’ he said.

The DG said it was time to save the country from the siege of importation that was weakening its economy and ensure Nigerian traditional medicines got its security.

Mr Emeje also emphasised the need to prioritise research, science, technology and innovation, which were the drivers of development in countries.

He called on the media to monitor and evaluate the agency to ensure it remained focused on its mandate toward boosting the relevance of traditional medicines.

(NAN)