Accra, July 9, GNA - Agya Kwaku Appiah, Producer of Agya Appiah Bitters on Friday called on orthodox medical practitioners to co-operate with traditional medicine healers to improve health care delivery in the country.

He said traditional medicine caters for about 75 per cent of the rural folk, while World Health Organisation declaration at Beijing in China stated that about 85 per cent of people worldwide seek traditional health practitioners as first choice before orthodox medicine.

Agya Appiah who is also Vice President of Confederation of West African Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association, made the call at the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) Day 2010 and launch of Traditional Medicine Documents in Accra.

Celebration of the Day, on the theme: "Promoting Quality Improvement and Rational Use of Traditional Medicines," is to review activities of WAHO.

The documents launched included Policy and Administrative Guidelines on Complementary Alternative Medicine Practice, Policy on Traditional Medicine Development and Strategy for Final Institutionalisation of Plant Medicine Services, Medical and Herbalism and Complementary Medicine in Ghana.

He said practitioners would continue to give out their best in promoting quality improvement and rational use of traditional medicine services in the country.

Agya Appiah called on government to continue to support activities of traditional medicine and expressed appreciation for the training of BSc Medical Herbalist at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.

"However, we are calling on government to support the internship training of the medical herbalists. This would contribute to the development of traditional medicine and quality service delivery," he added.

Agya Appiah, also a member of Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association, appealed to the Traditional Medicine Practice Council to support the Federation to promote and develop traditional medicine practice in Ghana and the West African Sub-Region.