The world today has experienced what has been described by many as the worst pandemic in the twenty first century. The covid 19 pandemic not only has exposed the weakness in medical science but has also exposed the weakness in our governance system.
I am not a politician so I won’t talk about politics but permit me to run my mouth on the aspects of medical science. Perhaps I don’t possess the finest brains like Dr Oko Boye or the multi-talented Dr Boamah. I may not even qualify for entrance exams at the Ghana Institute of Journalism to gain admission into that reputable center of learning to become a renowned Journalist like Mr. Randy Abbey but hey I must have something to show my audience if not this whole write up will only sound like social distancing in the ears of a Makola trader.
I am a scientist (or see myself as a scientist, before I am called to show up my degree in science) with interest in natural products. At least I took apprenticeship in science unlike my friend, Bob who decided to learn Buying and Selling at a very early age. Learning from the crops of finest brains in the medical science training from a prestigious university like the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST I find myself privileged and well informed to add my voice to a rather “educating and revealing but ignorantly presented facts” on one of the best morning shows in Ghana, Good Morning Ghana.
The show is by far one of the impactful shows in our media landscape. Its host, Mr. Randy Abbey has well branded himself as educated, knowledgeable and always on top of issues. He does seem not to mince his words when it comes to sharing his “many” knowledges with his viewers. I have heard him a couple of times “blasting” colleagues for not doing facts check before coming out with reportage. This is how high he has set the standard for Journalism (at least on his show, Good Morning Ghana).
It was rather surprising to come across audio excerpts of Mr. Randy’s Show on the 21st April, 2020, spilling “facts” he didn’t check. I didn’t believe it till I watched the whole episode on Facebook. I was tempted to believe that his panel deceived him. Oh, it is true (in the voice of sensational Timothy, the Suarez). It sometimes does happen. When you have a panel drawn from a profession once regarded as the “club” of all-knowing (at least covid 19 tells us otherwise), elites, academics, brainy and what have you, you are tempted to be swayed by their posture and background in western, classical or conventional training as doctors. This was the case on that fateful day when Mr. “facts check” Randy Abbey had Dr. Okoe Boye and Dr Omane Boamah as the panel. Dr Okoe Boye has just been confirmed as the Deputy Minister for Health and has been running media interviews here and there when his task (covid 19 I guess) is still out there. Dr Omane Boamah, herrrrr I admire that fine gentleman from afar. He was a Minister in the erstwhile government. You remember his “beef” with the leadership of the Ghana Medical Association, GMA at that time. He represented at that time the new crop of young doctors who believe the status quo must be changed. (I like him for that one bold, may be “foolish” decision). With their background and exposure in the politics of our country, Mr. Randy Abbey couldn’t help but admire as they churned out “facts without check” on his show. And the disappointment was when Mr. Randy Abbey joined the “train”.
What at all were they discussing? I guess FDA might have triggered the whole thing with the recall of COA FS products with their press release. (I can’t comment on this ooo before I am crucified).
During the show, Mr. Randy Abbey made a statement that (paraphrasing) I am told that there are some programme at tech and there are some people who finished those programme and they work with all these herbal companies and they call themselves doctors … and because of all these medical jargons they learnt at KNUST they come and sit down and talk “shit”…… Oh, did he really say that?
Hahahahaha (Did I just laugh. Oh, forgive my manners). This is indeed laughable. My pen wants to script down the voice of the Deputy Minister but wait he is a young and promising politician with good records like Dr Zenator Rawlings so we must present them blameless till the day of Christ (referencing the Bible). Dr Okoe Boye called for the Medical and Dental Council to step up their game in putting forth a proposal to regulate these so-called bush doctors from KNUST (not the bush canteen) who are deceiving the public with the medical jargons. Dr Omane Boamah added that doctors like Dr Okoe and himself have to do continuous professional development, CPD programs to earn points to renew their license as doctors even when in active politics like Dr Okoe. That is brilliant as CPD is a requirement for every profession. I don’t think its only doctors who do that but Nurses, Pharmacists, Laboratory Scientists and even the “bush doctors” do.
So why all this? What at all is wrong with young brainy politicians and Journalist sharing these “facts” with the public? Is it not what is expected of them? Wait ooo let me finish.
These people made the public believe that KNUST is training herbalists in a six-month course which focused on equipping them with medical jargons to come out and deceive the public. Oh, my own KNUST or is it the Prof Adarkwa, Prof. Obiri Danso and Co’s KNUST? Where did the education of professionals go wrong in Ghana? But for the records I wouldn’t have dare myself into this boiling point.
In the early 2000 after forty years of Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for Africa Traditional Medicine development like his communist friends in the east, Ghana took a bold step in a 10-year development plan for the development of Traditional Medicine. At the core of this plan was the development and capacity building of human resources within the Traditional Medicine sector. This was necessary at the time WHO had reported that approximately 70% of the world’s population rely on Traditional Medicine for primary health and that the industry can be a tool for poverty alleviation in developing countries such those in the sub Saharan Africa.
After a team of professionals in both medical and pharmaceutical sciences were tasked by the government to understudy countries that have gone ahead in the race to tap this untapped sector of our healthcare delivery system. Countries like China, Germany and UK were the most top targets as these had rich long history of use and development of their indigenous Traditional Medicine. After the understudy, there was the proposal for the introduction of a degree program in Herbal Medicine with the sole aim of churning out a new healthcare cadre who will serve as a bridge between the indigenous Traditional Medical Practice and Mainstream Medical Practice in Ghana.
In the year 2000 KNUST introduced a Bachelor Degree in Herbal Medicine at its College of Health Science as a Sub Department under the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The program focused on both Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences as these professional would be expected to bridge the gap in both clinical care and development of quality herbal medicinal.
The first batch of graduates completed in 2004 and had to undergo 2 years mandatory training and professional development at Centre for Plant Medicine Research, Akwapim Mampong and the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital. In the line of training some of these professionals were sent to China by the MOH with the support of the Chinese Government to have a fair understanding of the goals Ghana had sought to achieve. After successive training of batches, professional Qualifying Exams were conducted by the then established Traditional Medicine Practice Council, TMPC by TMPC Act 575 (2000) and not the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (Act 857) which has the Pharmacy Council, Nurses and Midwifery Council, Medical and Dental Council and the Allied Health Professional Council.
After the 10years Policy and Implementation, a new plan was developed. This time with the focus on integration of these professionals and their work into the mainstream healthcare system. This was at a time WHO along with its partners “preached” integrative approach to medicine. This approach was already in place in WHO Southeastern countries. What is this Integrative Approach to Medicine? In all over the world medical and pharmaceutical scientists continue to battle the idea of failing health systems and that, there is no one health system that is absolute. The proposal then was to combine health system approaches that will gear towards helping the patient who is the key focus in integrative medicine. For instance, you will begin to see surgeons and doctors (I guess you didn’t know the difference) teaming up to manage patients with the best of both approaches. In the past doctors would treat appendicitis with antibiotics even when the patient needs surgery because they felt drugs could do it all. Until research proved otherwise many patients died of what would now be described as medical negligence. In China, patients are managed with both Traditional Chinese Medicines and Conventional Medicine when the combined effects outweigh the individual effects. For example, a patient suffering from cold would be given anti flu medicines (orthodox medicines) and some Chinese herbs to apply as steam bath.
For integrative approaches to medicine to work, the two sides of the professionals must have adequate training and appreciation of the skills and competences of the other and this is what Ghana sought to do by training this new cadre of health professionals in both the conventional medical training and indigenous Africa Traditional Medicine, a perfect blend needed to bride the gap.
As I write this piece, there exist about 35 herbal units across the country in Ghana Health Service facilities. These centers or units are manned by “Herbal Doctors” or “Medical Herbalist” a term borrowed from the commonwealth.
However, I must state that these successes are not without challenges as the industry has grown beyond expectation with the public interest in natural remedies globally soaring higher and higher. Today one cannot tell the difference between the professionally trained medical herbal practitioner and the indigenous herbalists. Perhaps the name tag herbalists from our cultural perspective has been tarnished by charlatans and quacks. Maybe the name “Herbalist” has no meaningful need in the twenty first century Ghana. This I am sure as my Kumawood friends or Pete Edochie in Nollywood won’t be happy if their grandchildren got to know they ever acted as Herbalists in movies.
Given Mr. Oh sorry Dr Randy Abbey the benefit of the doubt, (was just told he has a doctorate degree) he cannot be blamed for not knowing if a whole deputy minister of health, Dr Okoe Boye didn’t know that there are about 35 herbal units in Ghana Health Service facilities of which LEKMA Hospital is a modal one. I believe there is much work to be done by these professionals but what can they do when there is law to sanitize (“a beg not hand sanitizer ooo) the system and those paid by the state to do so relax on their duty.
Traditional Medicine Practice Council, the statutory body setup by law to regulate the practice of herbal medicine has done but not too well to help the development of Traditional Medicine and for that matter Herbal Medicine. If I couldn’t blame the host of Good Morning Ghana for not knowing I think I can spare TMPC whose tasks is so enormous that with the definition of Traditional Medicine by Law it is basically not possible to achieve their mandate. What does the Law say about Traditional Medicine? (Yes, we want to know. By now I am beginning to know my audience)
According to WHO and TMPC Act Traditional Medicine refers the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement, or treatment of physical and mental illness. This is a beautiful definition but it has many bottle necks which some society like ours can take or resolve. Firstly, the idea of explicable or not by science becomes confusing in our society. How do you regulate something that cannot be explained by science? I guess now Dr Randy Abbey knows why there are many people on radio and TV making claims that cannot be explained by science. Yes, that is Traditional Medicine. How do you regulate this along those that can be explained by science? I don’t think the framers of the definition of Traditional Medicine did not know this will happen in the future. They knew however, they were guided by history to allow it in the definition. There are many events in medical history that defeated science in the past but later science defeated it (thanks for new or advanced technology or information). Think of Tuberculosis. Many doctors or scientists were penalized at the time of the TB invasion for saying the disease is curable. Today TB has moved from incurable TB to curable TB and the same “people” who said it was not curable are now calling and pleading with patients to comply with treatment. When HIV was discovered the whole world agreed this is an incurable disease but now the narratives are changing as there are at least two successful cases (the London case being the latest as announced by President Trump). This really means that at every time in medical sciences’ history there are certain treatments or therapies that cannot be explained by science but with advancement in technology later on, they become so crystal clear to medical science. Today we have covid 19 almost defeating the world’s strongest technology and even robust health systems but I won’t be surprised to wake up tomorrow to hear covid 19 has become like TB.
Many claims made by indigenous Traditional Medicine practitioners have over the years being proven through research. Cardinal among these is the treatment for fibroids. At the time when many Traditional Medicine practitioner claimed they had treated fibroids; the medical science society was still struggling to define what causes fibroids. Isn’t that ironical? You have no idea how a disease is caused yet you deny others who tell you that have results. There is this famous story in China (many famous stories are not true sometimes ooo) that a Chinese doctor met a western trained doctor and asked him to explain why the body yawns. This simple act of the body has baffled medical science till date so the western trained doctor said he had no idea. The Chinese doctor then told him that he knows. This resulted in serious argument and the western trained doctor asked for evidence. This the Chinese doctor gladly accepted. He then pulled few acupuncture needles and carefully inserted into the western trained doctor’s body. All of a sudden, he begun yawning. He didn’t believe what was happening to him as he watched the crowd that has gathered clapping and cheering the Chinese doctor on – to what end is this story? Medicine is all about evidence and not theories. Today many doctors are calling for evidence-based medicine. Many breakthroughs in medical science are brought by those who defied the status quo and pushed for evidence. It is this evidence based approach that makes many orthodox trained doctors in Ghana comfortably prescribe products from Himalaya, Characks and others forgetting that these are herbal medicines, of course not from Ghana but other countries like India, China, Germany who were at where we are now as a nation but didn’t kill the industry but supported them to grow through proper regulation and standard development ( I may have to talk about standards another time)
I don’t know if I have quite dealt with this matter but at this point “my pen is tired” or should I say I am fatigued. Not being a prolific writer and being called to do so impromptu has really taught me great lessons I failed to learn in my many years of experience in medicine. I must admit I have fallen in love with some of the best writers of our time, “Prof” Eric Korankye Nuamah of the Before Breakfast Series.
To those who had time to read all this “non fa” facts without checking please do expect me another time. Thank you.
From Dr Daniel Kwasi Kovor, MH (I hope Randy will allow me use the title I have earned)
Ukraine braces for winter power crisis after Russian strikes, Zelensky says
STMA distributes poultry birds under Nkoko Nkitinkiti programme
President Mahama backs Ghana Scout Association to boost youth development
Widen tax net to informal sector – Otumfuo urges GRA
Chairman Wontumi seeks bail pending appeal
Bawumia joins Kristo Asafo for Apostle Kantanka’s thanksgiving service
Don’t let AI replace your ability to think — DPC boss tells graduates
Murtala Mohammed was patriotic, devoted public servant — Kofi Buah
Laboma: The land of beautiful Katanomics — Bright Simons writes
Prophet Kusi describes Wontumi’s 20-year sentence as harsh
Comments
That's a great piece. Hope those to whom it concerns will read and learn