Accra, July 21, GNA - The Nahaff Ghana Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), in collaboration with the Federation of Traditional Medicine, organized a training workshop for practitioners of herbal medicine in Accra on Thursday.

It aimed at promoting natural medicine as safe alternative for disease prevention and treatment.

Mr Rockson Boating, herbal medicine practitioner and director of programs of the NGO, said the workshop sought to educate the public about causes of diseases and efforts being made by herbal medicine practitioners to tackle current diseases.

He said the workshop would educate practitioners on the preservation of herbal plants adding that some of them lacked knowledge in natural medicine.

Mr Boateng noted that it was the hope of the NGO to ensure that over 500 mainstream herbal medicine practitioners and manufacturers are trained to practice and compete according to international standards.

He said participants were sensitised on body therapy, herbal art, professional training for basic nutrition and basic knowledge in anatomy and physiology.

Mr Boateng said natural health care involves the use of herbs, water, food, and devices to prevent or treat diseases. He asked Ghanaians to take protein and explained that it is an organic compound made up of Amino acid, which is the basic component of all the body cells.

Mr Boateng said that the best sources of protein included beans, meat, milk and eggs.

Mr Abaron Kwesi Socrate, Founder of Africo Herbal Centre, said herbal medicine should be recognised since it helps in facilitating health delivery in the country.

He said the centre had treated patients suffering from breast cancer, elephantiasis, gonorrhoea, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

Mr Socrate said that traditional medicine involves holistic model of wellbeing through the integration of emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of patients.

He said even though specific practices vary, traditional medicine was based on the understanding that human beings were part of nature, and health was a matter of balance.

Mr Socrates said traditional elders used the environment to obtain foods, medicines, and ceremonies to ensure the health of the people.

He appealed to government to support herbal medicine practitioners to plant herbal plants for the production of medicines.