Professor Maurice Iwu says there are a lot misconception about herbal medicine, saying it has more benefits than synthetic medicine.
The Professor of Pharmacognosy stated this at a forum in Lagos organised by the Model Herbal Clinic of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos (UNILAG). to commemorate the 15th Africa Traditional Medicine Day.
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He spoke on “Herbs for health: application and development”. He said research has shown that natural medicines have therapeutic efficacy adding that it has little or no side effects.
Iwu, who is the Chief Executive Officer, Bio-Resource Development Group said synthetic medicine compared unfavourably with its herbal counterpart adding that the former was lethal because it was produced with chemicals.
He implored Nigerians to emulate the Chinese and Indians by adopting and projecting their natural medicines.
According to him, “Traditional medicine has a lot to offer, the core of it being the use of herbs for treatment, which is different from western medicines that use chemicals for treatment. The advantage of herbal medicines is that it is from our natural environment, while the synthetic drugs have been isolated from the plants.”
