The Gambia on Tuesday joined the rest of the
African continent to celebrate the African Traditional Medicine Day with
the theme: ‘Traditional medicine decade, progress so far.’ The event
which was held at the Kanifing Municipality brought together health
personnel and traditional healers from around the country.
In
his opening remarks, the lord mayor of KMC Mr. Yankuba Colley said that
time and science have proven that traditional medicine remains a vital
component in the treatment of ailments of all sorts in every part of the
world.
“We live in a modernized and scientific
world where case studies have established the vitality of traditional
medicine in our society beyond reasonable doubt.”
He
pointed out that if the theory that modern medicine is produced out of
herbs and similar elements is anything to go by, there is no reason why
people should doubt the effectiveness and value of traditional medicine,
noting that the success of the treatment programmes by His Excellency,
Sheikh Professor Alhagie Dr. Yahya AJJ Jammeh through the exclusive
application of traditional medicine and methods are testamentary to the
efficacy of traditional medicine.
Colley added
that the successes of these traditional medicines were established in
Western medical laboratories yet with much ambiguity.
“Elements
who assume that African knowledge is inferior to Western education are
reluctant to accept the verdict. The same applies to successes
registered by various traditional healers across Africa and parts of
Asia,” he said.
He further highlighted that
traditional medicine is cultural and plays a big role in health care of
people and communities. Promoting the traditional medicine institution,
he said, is a task to be completed by all genuine Africans. He also
indicated that traditional healers are first sources of health care in
most parts of Africa and their services are easily accessible and more
than affordable.
For her part, the director of
Health Services, Dr. Adama Demba dilated on the cardinal objectives for
marking the event. According to her, the day was earmarked for
governments and stakeholders to take stock of their contributions in the
promotions of traditional medicine and for them to dwell on the theme
of the occasion for their future plans and stimulation.
While
enunciating on the theme of the event, Dr. Demba said that the idea of
the setting aside a decade for the promotion of traditional medicine in
the African continent was well-thought out by an illustrious son of the
country, Alhagie Dr. Malick Samba, the then WHO regional director for
Africa due to his faith in traditional medicine and his belief that it
could make formidable outcome on the lives of Africans if given the
chance.
According to him, Dr. Samba, during his
stewardship was able to convince African countries to adopt the decade
2000 to 2010 as traditional medicine decade. “In 2002 to 2005, WHO
adopted strategies which incorporated the attainment of the goals of
traditional medicine decade,” she said.
She went
on to thank President Jammeh for his relentless effort in the promotion
of traditional medicine and assured traditional medical institutions in
the country that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is ever-ready
to cooperate with them in the quest to accelerate health development
through the use of traditional medicine. She finally thanked the WHO for
their unflinching support to achieve the goals of traditional medicine
decade.
Also speaking at the occasion, Mr. Salieu
Puge, the vice president of the National Traditional Healers Assembly
expressed delight and honor for marking yet another commemoration of
African Traditional Medicine Day. According to him, this is its eighth
commemoration which he said is very significant as it marks the end of
the decade especially dedicated to promote the advancement of
traditional medicine.
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