Today, 31 August 2013, the countries in the WHO African Region celebrate the African Traditional Medicine Day under the theme “Traditional medicine research and development”. This theme draws attention to the urgent need for research and development (R&D) to enhance the role of traditional medicine in health-care delivery.
Current WHO estimates show that for 80% of the people in the developing world, traditional medicine is the main—and sometimes the only—source of health care. In our Region, traditional medicine has strong historical and cultural origins.
It is regrettable that traditional medicine R&D has not been given adequate funding. The celebration of the African Traditional Medicine Day 2013 provides an excellent opportunity for stakeholders, including governments, researchers, traditional and conventional health practitioners, nongovernmental organizations, communities, and development partners, to share information and experiences on traditional medicine R&D, plan for collaborative projects and mobilize resources for generation of knowledge and new traditional medicine products.
The history of traditional medicine in Africa dates back thousands of years before the advent of modern medicine. Yet, within a comparatively short period modern medicine has developed adequate methods for efficacy proving, quality assurance, safety testing and standardization of manufacturing practices for its products.
In our Region, some countries have made commendable progress in traditional medicine R&D. It gives me great pleasure to report that in 2012 the number of traditional medicine research institutions had increased to 28 from 18 in 2000; 13 countries were using research results to authorize marketing of some traditional medicine products for treatment of malaria, diabetes and sickle-cell disease; and 8 countries had traditional medicine products in their national essential medicines list compared with only 1 country in 2000.
As we commemorate the African Traditional Medicine Day 2013, I appeal to governments in the African Region to increase investment in traditional medicine R&D. This will yield positive returns for the Region, where traditional medicine products have high acceptance. Governments need to include traditional medicine R&D in their national health research agenda and create budget lines to support the implementation of the traditional medicine strategy adopted by the WHO Regional Committee for Africa. On its part, WHO will continue to support countries in their endeavour to make traditional medicine a viable component of their national health systems.
I call for stronger partnerships involving governments, donors, the private sector and relevant stakeholders to take forward this important undertaking of traditional medicine R&D.
I wish you a successful celebration.