FCT Science and Tech. Dept. trains herbal products practitioners
By Ngozi Dike-Nkemjika
In a bid to achieve standardization of herbal products, the Department of Science and Technology has organized a one day workshop for stakeholders in herbal medicine practice in FCT.
The Deputy Director in charge of Technology Acquisition and Promotion (TAP), Mr. Kolawole Olobashola said the workshop is to sensitize and encourage them and interview traditional medicine practitioners on best practices in order to take their products to the next level.
He said embracing scientific research will help them enhance their production and bring their products to a competitive standard, noting that science and nature are inseparable.
The Center Manager of the Department’s Technology Incubation Center, Mrs. Eghobamien Judith called on the cluster to take advantage of training programmes offered by the incubation center. According to her, trainings in food processing and packaging among others will help the practitioners boost their products’ acceptance and patronage. She said this will also enable them train and groom other new practitioners, which is the kind of multiplier effect and job creation expected from the Incubation programmes.
The Desk Officer for TAP Herbal Cluster, Mrs. Nwokocha Nkiruka also encouraged the practitioners to come up with their products for value addition, noting that linkage to standardization bodies such as National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control-NAFDAC, Standard Organization of Nigeria-SON as well as Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment for trademarks will help hoist their products for global acceptance.
The Cluster/Herbal Practitioners were also advised to take advantage of the machines at the Technology Demonstration and Promotion Center for their production.
The practitioners, while narrating their success stories said there had been steady improvement in the areas of treatment of diabetes, back pain, typhoid fever among other ailments using their products and some of those products were already certified by NAFDAC.
