Researchers unveil latest scientific findings at 4th Summit on Clinical Trials

Canvass incorporation of traditional medicine into modern practice

More than 1000 researchers from all over the world gathered at Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja, for the 4th Clinical Trials Summit Scientific Programme, which took place June 6 to 8, 2016.

The theme of the Summit was “Clinical Research and Public Health Emergencies in Sub-Saharan Africa” and the Sub-theme is “Role of the Private Sector in Public Health Emergencies.”

The Summit was organized by the Association for Good Clinical Practice in Nigeria (AGCPN) in collaboration with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, at the opening ceremony of the Summit, said that Nigeria has what it take to develop her own clinical trial industry, as it has the human resources and knowledge, adding that the development of this industry would help in job creation, technology acquisition, promotion of innovation, encouragement of entrepreneurship, strengthening of the universities and research institutes as well as the industries.

He noted that the development of the industry would further help build trust and guarantee credibility and reliability in any data generated in all laboratory investigations. He said “the federal ministry of science and technology will support you in this very noble journey you are undertaking which is certainly in the best interest of the country.”

Lamenting the importation of herbal products from different parts of the world into the country, Onu said it does not make sense as Nigeria biodiversity is very rich, vast and diverse which if properly exploited can meet and those of others in the world.

The Minister urged Nigerians to look inward for solutions to challenges facing the nation, as Nigerian problem can best be solved by Nigerians. “We can no longer continue with the foreign taste we have develop over the years,” he said.

President of Bioresource Development Group (BDG), Prof. Maurice Iwu, called for the need to incorporate some aspects of African traditional medicine into modern clinical practice to improve health care delivery in Nigeria and on the African continent.

Iwu said translational medicine approach, which incorporates data from folk use of herbal medicines would enrich available drugs in the country.

He said the inability to develop a unifying framework for the use of both traditional medicine and scientific biomedicine in human health-care practice has greatly undermined the global resolve to accomplish total health and medical-care coverage for all by the year 2000.

Iwu maintained that traditional medicine could be incorperated into nutrition, detoxification, and personalized medicine. He blamed rising cases of cancer, obesity and various endemic chronic diseases in the continent on modern agricultural techniques, mass production and easy access to over consumption of agricultural foods, including many industrially manipulated and processed food such as dairy and wheat….”