A Ghanaian herbalist, Mr. Kofi Badu, is delighted at the response his 'Garlic Bitters' is attracting from people both at home and abroad, especially Nigeria from where every day demand pours in.

Kofisco, as he is popularly known in the Okaishie business area of Accra, looks like any of the patent medicine sellers in town as he sits in the pharmaceutical shop facing the Accra Central Fire Service Station. His wife is a pharmacist and a part of the successful pharmaceutical company they are running.

His product is made from garlic and honey and a combination of local herbs. He learnt about herbs from his late mother and an old woman called Afio Tawiah in Akwapim Berekusu near Aburi. This association with herbs has developed in him a special respect for plants.

In an interview with The Accra Mail he said as a hypertensive, conventional medicine did not help him. So he decided through personal research to try garlic, which to him has medicinal and spiritual qualities - it removes cholesterol from the body. This, combined with honey with its sedative attributes and herbs, reduced his pressure from 220/180 to 150/100.

Kofisco sent samples to friends to test and the response was good and it is now one of the most sought after herbal medicines in town. He says he has another concoction, which can reverse the conditions of HIV/AIDS patients. 'Kofisco Garlic Bitters' besides controlling hypertension is known to cure a number of other ailments like insomnia. It also has aphrodisic qualities. No wonder he won an award from the Ghana National Association of Traditional Healers for his contribution towards traditional medicine in the country.

He called on the government to set up an independent body to cater for the welfare of traditional medical practitioners. When this is done, he said, their contribution to the nation's health delivery programme would be boosted.

In another development the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Association of Traditional Healers (GNATH), Nana C.A. Ababio has expressed concern about Chinese herbal preparations currently on the market which he says are causing harm to the public.

He told newsmen that although these drugs are certified by the Ghana Standards Board and Food and Drugs Board, GNATH has found that the components are alien to Ghanaians and therefore have adverse effects on them.

A member of GNATH, Nana Osei Sampa said the GSB and Food and Drugs Board should not be the ones to certify herbal preparations. That should be done by the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, at Akwapim Mampong.

Osei Sampa said the Ministry of Health should stop importing expensive drugs for AIDS patients, since no one has the cure; they should rather make use of 'efficacious herbal drugs'. Kofi Badu for instance says his Kofisco Tonic is patronised by HIV/AIDS patients and that he is ready to be challenged on his product's efficacy.