The Ministry of Health says it will include herbal medicine in the medicine list of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), by the close of this year.
This is expected to give subscribers the option of treatment in public health facilities.
The Acting Director for Traditional Herbal and Alternative Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Anastasia Yirenkyi announced this at the inauguration of the newly elected Excutives of the Greater Accra Regional Branch of the Ghana National Association of Traditional Healers in Accra.
Dr. Yirenkyi said the move is also to gurantee the traditional herbal practitioners a regular source of income.
She therefore appealed to the herbal practitioners to choose their ranks in other to need out quack ones.
The president of the Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practioners Association, GHAFTRAM, Kojo Odum Eduful called on the Ministry of Health to speed up processes to enable traditional medicine practitioners to register their intellectual properties to help protect their indigenous knowledge.
Access to cheaper sources of funding he said is a major challenge facing members.
Mr. Eduful therefore appealed to president Akufo Addo to set up a fund to help practitioners.
The Chairman of the Ghana National Association of Traditional Healers, Nana Kwadwo Obiri appealed to President Akufo Addo to construct herbal medicine factories in each region.
He also requested that the teaching and learning of traditional herbal medicine practice be encouraged in all medical schools in the country.
Nana Kissi Opam was enstooled as king of traditional medicines while Nana Krowaa Homakyem was also enstooled queen of traditional medicine.
Nana Akoa Nyamekye Toantsin was enstooled development chief of traditional herbal medicine.
