Private Sector Advocacy Brings Results

The value and usefulness of private sector advocacy in Ghana's developing economy cannot be underestimated. The results of the Ghana National Association of Traditional Healers - Ashanti Region (GNATH) advocacy initiative provides a good example.

GNATH has through advocacy been able to persuade traditional herbal medicine practitioners about the need to improve the public image of their practice, and has succeeded in gaining government recognition of herbal medicine as a useful complement to orthodox medicine in Ghana. GNATH have supported government decision to prepare an approved list of traditional herbal medicines for use in public health institutions. Furthermore, Government has also instituted formal programmes to regulate practices within the industry, and have sponsored GNATH association members to tour India and study how traditional medicine is applied in formal settings.

Through advocacy, the structures needed to support traditional herbal medicines are being developed to ensure that it is accessible to all in a safe environment. BUSAC Fund supports such useful advocacy initiatives.