Nigeria's Minister of State for Health, Dr Adekunle Salako, has revealed that one of the herbal medicines developed in the country for managing sickle cell disease is now being prescribed in more than 40 countries worldwide.
Dr Salako disclosed on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television's Politics Today.
He stated that the medicine, developed by the Nigerian Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), was extracted from local herbs and had undergone scientific testing to demonstrate its effectiveness.
"As a matter of fact, I can tell you that one of the medicines being used globally for the control of sickle cell crisis was extracted from herbal medicine in Nigeria.
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"It was developed here in Nigeria by NIPRD, and it is today being prescribed in over 40 countries of the world. This shows that there is a lot of potential in our herbal medicine," he said.
The minister stressed that the Federal Government was paying renewed attention to traditional and complementary medicine, noting that many Western drugs were initially developed from natural sources.
"Right now in the ministry, we have a Department of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which a director heads.
"We have also encouraged similar departments or agencies to be created at the state level. Some states, such as Ogun State, already have agencies that regulate and promote traditional medicine practice."
Dr Salako also stated the efforts by Nigerian researchers, adding that the government had set up a committee on phytomedicine development and commercialisation to ensure that local herbal discoveries are not only developed but also made attractive to investors.
"About three or four weeks ago, I met with some researchers from one of our northern universities who have tested an herbal medicine found to be effective against brain cancer in animals. We are taking that discovery further through clinical trials to refine it and make it available as part of our arsenal in the fight against cancer.
"If you develop a product and do not commercialise it, it will not attract investment. Learning from the example of the sickle cell drug, we hope to harness our local phytomedicine resources to support the national health agenda."
On Nigeria's capacity to handle health emergencies, Dr Salako assured citizens that the country's disease prevention and response systems had improved significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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"Our ability to prevent diseases, detect them when they occur, and respond has generally increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. The last Joint External Evaluation done in 2023 showed that Nigeria has moved from about 39 per cent to 54 per cent in pandemic preparedness capacity."
He also dismissed rumours of any unusual disease outbreaks or health crises, saying: "We have nothing to worry about as a country. Our health surveillance system is functioning, and any abnormal increase in illnesses would be detected through our reporting mechanisms."
Dr Salako reiterated that the government's commitment to integrating traditional medicine into modern healthcare would continue, noting that Nigeria's biodiversity holds immense promise for future medical breakthroughs.
