Parliament says Zimbabwe should allocate funds for research into traditional medicines in 2022 budget

6.0    Recommendations

6.1    The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should allocate funding to the traditional and complementary medicines in the 2022 National Budget to enable more research and development in this field.

6.2    The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement should earmark land for the cultivation of herbs for medicinal use in Zimbabwe by December 2021.

6.3    The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development should consider inclusion of the traditional medicines into schools, colleges and universities curriculum to demystify the practice by December 2021.

6.4    The Ministry of Health and Child Care should cause collaboration of all relevant players in the sector to bring about coherence in the development of traditional medicines in Zimbabwe by December 2021.

6.5    Cordial work relations between the TPMs and CMPs are essential ingredients in boosting the development and promotion of the traditional and complementary medicines in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and Child Care should always strive to put in place strategies that encourage good working relations between the two practices.

6.6    The Ministry of Health and Child Care should ensure that TMPs have access to laboratories, are trained to read results, have medical insurance and are able to use the modern medical instruments such as BP machines as their counterparts in the conventional medical field by August 2022.

6.7    The Ministry of Health and Child Care should start training and educating the TMPs to move from individualism (non-disclosure) to nationalisation and protection of property rights if Zimbabwe is to bring about total development in the traditional and complementary medicines sector within the first quarter of 2022.

6.8    Political will is key to any development, hence the Ministers responsible for the above-mentioned ministries should immediately take keen interest in ensuring that the recommendations that have been directed to their respective ministries are actioned within the stipulated timeframes.

7.0    CONCLUSION

7.1    Although there are no statistics to prove the extent of the use of the traditional and complementary medicines in Zimbabwe to address various diseases and ailments, it is evident that the rural population uses them as most modern health facilities and services are inaccessible and unaffordable. It is also evident that even the urban population resorted to the use of the traditional and complementary medicines as movement was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown. In spite of this, little attention is given to the development and promotion of traditional and complementary medicines in Zimbabwe. It is therefore imperative now more than ever, to invest in the development and promotion of the traditional and complementary medicines in Zimbabwe, lest we become no more than a market of other nations traditional medicines. Thank you Hon. Speaker Ma’am.

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