Africa excluded in N9 trillion global herbal medicine businessAfrica, with 70 per cent of the world reserve of medicinal plants, has no share in the more than $70 billion (about N9 trillion) global herbal medicine business.The Director of Pax Herbal Clinic, Rev. Fr. Anselm Adodo, made the assertion at a workshop in Lagos organised by the clinic for journalists.Adodo said: “Africa is surrounded by wealth, yet live in poverty,” adding that the workshop just for herbal medicine alone but for poverty  alleviation especially poverty of the mind.He called for the protection of indigenous knowledge by re-understanding, re-interpreting, re-examining and re-expressing it in the light of modern science.Adodo, popularly known as “native doctor” said it was important to set up international efforts with the objective of protecting and preserving indigenous knowledge.

He added: “With every old person that dies in our villages, a whole library of books is being lost”.He said one of the main objectives of workshop and the publication of the centres journal, herbal doctor” was to store, protect and preserve the African knowledge of medicinal herbs.The catholic priest said knowledge, one of humanity’s great assets, was grossly under-used in Africa.According to him, the number of knowledge workers who are unemployed, under-employed or mis-employed particularly among university graduates is reportedly between 25 and 40 per cent in Africa.Adodo said practices such as ancestor worshiping, veneration, cult, voodoo and sorcery were signs of knowledge twisted toward the past instead of toward the future and thus, not efficient for the current forward-looking world.“It is knowledge that is detrimental to the transformation of African medicine into globally acceptable venture, thus keeping about a quarter of rica constantly looking backward,” he said.Dr Bunmi Omoseyindemi, the Chairman of the Traditional Medicine Board, said there was a need to properly develop herbal and traditional medicine to create employment because unemployment was also a health problem.

He told newsmen that “Nigeria has the highest rate of maternal and child health problem in the world and we must find a way to reduce it because it is part or our strategy to reduce poverty.”He added that orthodox and traditional medicine practitioners need to work in concert for the common goal of saving lives.Journalists drawn from various parts of the country took part in the workshop tagged Medicine Reporters Forum, organised by PAXHERBALS, a Catholic Centre for scientific cultivation, development and promotion of African medicine.According to the organisers, the forum is to ensure that journalists are well informed about happenings in the Nigerian herbal medicine sector.It is also meant to show them the huge potential of African medicine in transforming the continent and to encourage dialogue toward the development of the African medicine.

According to the organisers, the forum is to ensure that journalists are well informed about happenings in the Nigerian herbal medicine sector.It is also meant to show them the huge potential of African medicine in transforming the continent and to encourage dialogue toward the development of the African medicine.