A former Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. E. N. Mensah, has underlined the need for strong support for research into plant medicine.

He said more should be done to promote the integration of plant medicine into mainstream medical practice in the country.

Speaking at the 15th annual general meeting of the Medical Superintendents’ Group in Koforidua, he indicated that Ghana had huge untapped treasury in plant medicine that must be exploited.

He added that the nation was losing a lot from the low attention it was giving to “this area of medicine”.

Dr. Mensah noted that the Center for Research into Plant Medicine at Mampong-Akuapem had herbal preparations that held enormous promise for the treatment of many of the cancers, which the hospitals had been struggling with.

He spoke of a case involving his own relative, who was diagnosed of cervical cancer, referred to the Center and was treated of the cancer.

This, he said, was about 15 years ago, and that the woman was now strong and healthy - going about her work.

Dr. Mensah said for more than a-half-of-a-century, the Center had had a cure for asthma which the country had not taken advantage of.