COA Mixture has now been added to Ghana's Essential Medicine lists to be prescribed by doctors in all hospitals across the country.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) announced on Wednesday in Accra at the relaunch of the herbal medicine product.
"COA Mixture is part of the medicines that have been selected, this means that COA mixture can now be dispensed to patients in the various health facilities in the country," the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said.
In an address read on his behalf at the relaunch of COA Mixture, the minister said after the herbal medicine had gone through the rigorous scientific testing through the various regulatory bodies such as the Ghana Standards Authority, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, School of Biological Sciences of the University of Ghana and Food and Drugs Authority, it was time that COA Mixture entered the mainstream health delivery system.
"Now patients can opt for herbal medicine care when they visit our various hospitals saying that Ghana cannot do without herbal medicine," he added.
The Minister of Health commended Professor Samuel Ato Duncan, founder and Chief Executive Officer of COA Research and Manufacturing Company, for his innovation in producing a herbal medicine for the wellbeing of users.
He called for institutional collaborations towards enhancing plant medicine in Ghana for global acceptability.
He challenged other herbal producers to channelpart of their resources into research as COA Mixture has done which was paying off today.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Prof. Ato Duncan said that his decision to forge ahead with his research over the past years had been to search for medical solutions to diseases.
He said his decision was sparked by his desire to complement the efforts of the government and that of The World Health Organisation (WHO) in aid of addressing the major global health challenges.
Professor AtoDuncan said the company's primal aim was to keep consistently focused on the best of standards to produce good quality products for the herbal medicine market at the local and international level.
To this end, he said a new GH¢10 million ultra-modern automated factory had been set up for that purpose, adding thatthe gesture forms part of the govt's commitment to achievingthe United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) three, targeting health for all by 2030 .
As part of his effort to enhance herbal medicine research, he donated GH¢100, 000 to the Ghana Traditional herbal Medicine Practitioners Association to enable members to subject their herbal medicine to scientific standards.
The unveiling of the rebranded COA Mixture was done by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan KwadwoKyerematen,who assured the management of COA Mixture of the government's commitment to supporting the herbal medicine industry.
