According to Akan Oral tradition ancient traditional medicine in Ghana especially among Akan tribes started with Oracles and deities.
Whenever there was a calamity, sickness or epidemic in a community, the elders of that place usually consulted deities for solution.
Herbs and concoctions were usually made based on what the Oracle said.
With time people with “Special Giftings” into the Spirituality of Plants emerged called: “Odwinsini” or Herbalist.
These herbalists usually had family members who served Oracles and pass unto them the Special craft of plant combination for healing.
From generation to generation their methods were passed on via oral tradition.
But the negative aspect was undocumentation of their plant medicinal craft. But the story soon changed!
Determinations to support the use of herbal medicine in Ghana began with the establishment of the Ghana Psychic and Traditional Healers Association in 1961 with the then president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The objective of the organization was to uphold, promote and protect the best in mental and natural treatment in Ghana. After a couple of years, with the help from the global organization known as United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Danfa Health Centre was established and this aimed at training traditional birth attendants.
The need for a Academic and Scientific research into local medicine led to the setting up of the CSIR.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is the foremost national science and technology institution in Ghana. It is mandated to carry out scientific and technological research for national development. The Council was established in its present form by NLC Decree 293 of 10th October, 1968 and re-established by CSIR Act 521 of 26th November, 1996. The Council, however, traces its ancestry to the erstwhile National Research Council (NRC), which was established by the Research Act 21 of August, 1958, a little over a year after independence, to organize and co-ordinate scientific research in Ghana and provide the necessary platform for Ghana’s accelerated development.
The Council came into being on 14th February 1959 with a Governing Council, which was chaired by the President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, with Mr. F.E.V. Smith as its Executive Secretary and Mr. S.T. Quansah as Deputy Executive Secretary.
In 1963, the National Research Council was merged with the Ghana Academy of Learning, which had been established in 1958 and renamed the Ghana Academy of Sciences, under the Ghana Academy of Sciences Instrument E.I.5 of 1963. The Academy, therefore, combined the dual roles of a statutory learned society and the organization of national research.
The assets and responsibilities of the two organizations were vested in the new Academy. The Academy had responsibility over eleven research institutes and four units and projects with Prof. J. Yanney-Ewusi as its General Secretary.
In 1968, following the recommendations of the Cockroft Committee, which was appointed by the Government of the National Liberation Council (NLC) in December 1966 “to advise on the future of the Ghana Academy of Sciences”, the Ghana Academy of Sciences was reconstituted and the Learned Society was separated from the research Division of the Academy.
The reconstitution of the Ghana Academy of Sciences into two separate bodies became law by NLCD 291 (1968), which established the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and NLCD 293 (1968), which established the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on 10th October 1968 with Mr. Modzaben Dowuona as the first Executive Chairman of the CSIR. As a national body, therefore, the CSIR has had an unbroken history, which extends back to the creation of the National Research Council in 1958.
This association which is an agency of World Health Organization (WHO) has produced 35 perfectly researched herbal based products. After a while, Ministry of Health (MOH) collaborated with the Catholic Holy Family Hospital to create The Primary health training for indigenous healers project (PRHETIH) in 1979.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) about 80% of developing countries depend on traditional medicines for their primary health care needs.
In Ghana, traditional medicine, particularly herbal medicines, is an important component of the health care system of the people.
The utilization of herbal medicines and associated medicinal plants in Ghana has been documented by many authors, although there are still many indigenous cultures and communities in Ghana that possess a great store of traditional knowledge about herbal medicines for treatment of various human ailments, which are yet to be documented.
The use of herbal medicine in Ghana is widespread but highly diverse due to floristic and cultural diversity, and traditional medicine has huge impacts on the local economy and biodiversity conservation.
The rich history of use of herbal medicines and innovative utilization of plants as sources of medicines in Ghana, and broadly within Africa, has been passed down through generations largely as oral tradition and as such it is important that this knowledge be documented.
The WHO has a keen interest in documenting the use of medicinal plants by indigenous people from different parts of the world.
In 1992, the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Directorate was established with the ministry of health managed by a deputy director to strengthen and offer the required direction to the improvement and promotion of ancient medicine in Ghana with special emphasis on herbal treatment. This was then followed by the proclamation of Food and Drugs Laws 1992, PNDCL 305B and Traditional medicine Act 2000, to control herbal medications and the use of Traditional medicine in 1992.
In 2001, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) incorporated a science bachelor’s degree in Herbal Medicine at the Department of Pharmacy. The role of the program is to train health practitioners in the fundamental medicinal, pharmacological and social sciences as well. Additionally, it aims at creating healthcare professionals who are trained to offer prime care services with the help of world-class, secure, real and typical natural treatments.
Apart from KNUST, the training is also offered in two other institutions, which include the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital and the famous Centre for Research into Plant Medicine.
All these institutions are located at Akuapem-Mampong, which is in the Eastern parts of Ghana. Once the students who undertake the herbal medicine course complete their countrywide service, they are required to proceed with their course at the two institutions cited above which are situated in Akuapem-Mampong.
Herbal medicine has now become formalised and integrated into mainstream exotic medicinal treatment of diseases in Ghana.
Sources: https://www.csir.org.gh/
https//www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2017/3043061/
and http://african-research.com/
