The House of Representatives has thrown its weight behind the Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency in its efforts to develop natural medicine in the country, saying the move would enhance healthcare delivery and boost access to affordable drugs.
If the country’s natural medicine is well and properly developed, the lawmakers said it would reduce the dependence on foreign and imported medicines.
Speaking on Wednesday during a working visit to the NNMDA in Lagos, the Charman, House Committee on Legislative Compliance, Badau Ahmed, said the lawmakers were ready to support the agency’s drive to develop comprehensive natural medicine.
According to him, the development of natural medicine on a large scale will create massive job opportunities across the country.
“This move by the NNMDA to develop and promote traditional medicine is encouraging. This will reduce costs and dependence on foreign medicine.
“So, at the same time, this plan will help our teeming youths by creating job opportunities in our communities across the country.
“The NNMDA DG has informed us of their plans, and the only thing is to encourage him to formalise everything in writing and submit it to us. We’ll take it from there and put it into action,” the committee chairman said.
Speaking earlier, the NNMDA Director-General, Prof. Martins Emeje, who sought the support of the lawmakers to implement the agency’s development roadmap, urged the House to approve a special allocation for the development of natural medicine.
Emeje said with the lawmaker’s support, Nigerians could be liberated from the overdependence on foreign medicines.
“Nigerians are finally about to be liberated from the shackles of colonialism and overdependence on the importation of medicines that are indigenous to other people,” the professor said.
He said that with the right allocation and improved staff strength, the country could explore natural medicines from each local government to treat diseases or infections peculiar to the LGs.
The NNMA DG explained that diseases in every location across the country have something to do with the natural constitution of that environment.
“For each ward, local government, or state, there are peculiar plants, animals, and minerals that cannot be found somewhere else.
“It is the plants, animals, and minerals in that community that can be explored for medicine for diseases found in that community,” he said.
The committee’s working visit is coming months after the House adopted a motion on the “need for Nigerians to promote and prioritise natural medicine” in the country.
The motion was sponsored by the member representing Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, Mr Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo.
Udo, in a brief synopsis of the motion, noted that globally, the present-day healthcare enterprise leans more towards nature-based remedies, “and this is without exception to any known human ailment”.
“Natural medicine is the most accessible and preferred healthcare delivery system in most communities in Nigeria today.
“We are worried that the country could not make the necessary achievements by making traditional medicine subservient to imported medicine,” he argued.
After adopting the motion, the House mandated its committees on Healthcare Services and Science and Technology to “strategise with stakeholders and the Natural Medicine Development Agency”.
It also urged the Committees to “connect the possibilities of natural medicine, reorient Nigerians, and look inwards for solutions to health challenges.”