The Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR) at Mampong Akwapim in the Eastern Region has made progress in the development of a herbal medicine for the treatment of COVID-19.
The acting Executive Director of the centre, Dr Kofi Bobi Barimah, who disclosed this, said his outfit was fast developing the herbal medicine, and that it would bring great respite to Ghanaians when it was introduced.
He said since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the centre had been working at the laboratory to help find a remedy to the life-threatening virus.
Dr Barimah gave the hint in Accra last Wednesday during the launch of an immune boosting food supplement called Thorntina-74 Mixture on the market.
“We have been working around the clock to get a herbal treatment for the COVID-19 and it will be out soon,” he said.
The herbal immune booster, which aims at providing support for the immune system to fight infectious diseases, is a distillate generated from three main plants — Moringa Oleifera, Spondias Mombin, commonly known as yellow mombin, and tetrapleura tetraptera (prekese).
Increase in patients at CPMR
Dr Barimah said the increase in patient attendance at the CPMR to seek treatment attested to the strong belief in and efficacy of herbal medicine, saying that had encouraged the centre to work on developing a cure for the COVID-19 pandemic.
He revealed that since the outbreak of the pandemic, the medical facility at the centre had witnessed an increase in intake of patients from 80 to 140 per day.
He said over the years, due to its thoroughness and the promotion of the safe use of plant medicine, many people had turned to the centre for the treatment of viral and other forms of diseases.
“For the past 46 years since the inception of the centre, it has promoted the safe and responsible use of plant medicine through research and many have found it very helpful, for which reason they continue to patronise it,” he emphasised.
A medical herbalist of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Albert Wirekoh-Tawiah, who was part of the team that developed the Thorntina-74 immune booster, said the mixture had been prepared with the best herbal products to stand the test of time.
“This herbal solution contains an anticarcinogenic and an immunodulator that prevents cancerous cells and prevents bacterial from easily affecting the system,” he explained.
A scientific officer of the Ghana Standards Authority, Dr Kenneth Agbodza, said his outfit had proved the efficacy of the mixture and encouraged all to utilise it for its good effects.
A biomedical and public health researcher, Dr Richard Eghan, called for a collaborative effort between herbal medicine and synthetic medicine to enable the best form of treatment for patients.
“There is the need for a scientific integration of natural or herbal medicine and synthetic ones for effective healing,” he noted.
Diagnostics Herbal Clinic
The Managing Director of the Diagnostic Herbal Clinic, originators of the medicine, Mr Yaw Owusu Gyapong, said the immune booster was developed as a response to his own need for an immune booster to promote his general health and help find a solution to the threat posed by the COVID-19 in particular.
“The knowledge that people with a stronger immune system are able to fight and survive the COVID-19 drove me to go back to the laboratory, and after comprehensive research, came up with the Thorntina-74 Immune Booster,” he explained.
He urged Ghanaians to pay attention to their health and personal well-being and encouraged them to trust the efficacy of natural herbal medicine which had been developed from trusted sources.
Three Ghanaians who have already tried the medicine attested to its efficacy and encouraged Ghanaians to patronise it.
The CPMR
The Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR), formerly called the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM), based at Mampong-Akwapim, was established by the Government of Ghana in 1975 as a result of the dream and vision of Dr Oku Ampofo, a renowned allopathic medical practitioner.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, the centre has received many herbal products and plants to be tested and certified as having the potential to cure the disease or at least alleviate symptoms.
