In Ghana successive governments have recognized the importance of traditional medicine. The formation of the Ghana Psychic and Traditional Healers Association in 1961 and the establishment of the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine in 1975 attest to this fact. Also in 1991 the government established a unit for the coordination of Traditional Medicine (which is now Traditional and Alternative Medicine Directorate) which was followed by the setting up of the Food and Drugs Board in 1992, which among others, is to certify the sale of Traditional Medicine products to the public.

In 2000, the government enacted the TMPC Act, Act 575 for the establishment of Traditional Medicine Council which is tasked with the responsibility for the registration of all Traditional Medical Practitioners in the country. An Alternative Medicine Bill is yet to be passed in parliament. Although all these documents provide a legal policy framework for the development of Traditional Medicine, there is no single document that coordinates the general policy direction of government in the area of traditional medicine. This policy document has been designed to fill this gap.

The object is to provide a general policy direction or framework within which government’s short to long term plans on TM would be based. It cuts across sectoral boundaries and provides a national position for which all sectors have to buy into. Almost all the relevant traditional medicine institutions and organizations were involved in the process of developing the document. Representatives were drawn from the Ministry of Health,

Ghana Health Service, Food and Drugs Board, Ghana National Drugs Programme, Centre for Scientific Research Into Plant Medicine, Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Associations (GHAFTRAM), Ghana Medical Association, Nurses and Midwives Council, Pharmacy Council, World Health Organization and DANIDA. Others included were Sociology and Biochemistry Departments of the University of Ghana and the Faculty of Pharmacy of
the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. It is hoped that the document will be relevant to all government institutions working towards the development of Traditional Medicine.

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TRADITIONAL-MEDICINE-POLICY