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Liberia trains health practitioners

Over 162 health practitioners and traditional healers in Liberia have received training on Toxicological Evaluation of Herbal Products. The training was conducted by the African Center of Excellence for Drug Research in Nigeria. The program aims to enhance pharmaceutical manufacture and herbal medicine production in Liberia. Additionally, 27 Liberians have been awarded scholarships to study medicine utilizing Liberian plants. The program, supported by the World Bank, seeks to develop safe and effective herbal medicines in West and Central African countries.

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Over 162 professional health workers and traditional healers in Liberia received five days of training on Toxicological Evaluation of Herbal Products from the ACEDHARS or the African Center of Excellence for Drug Research, Herbal Medicine Development, and Regulatory Science  at Lagos University in Nigeria.

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Madam Omobolanel Ade-Ademilua, Executive Director of the African Center of Excellence for Drug Research, praised the administrators for the five-day training held on May 20 at the University of Liberia's College of Health Sciences.

The University of Lagos' strategic aim, according to Madam Ade-Ademilua, is to collaborate with the World Bank to help build a future for West Africa.

She said that in Lagos, an eight-part plan was announced, with Liberia as one of the nations involved in pharmaceutical manufacture, regulation, and herbal medicine production and regulation.

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"We have those meds, but they don't reach international standards," she explained, highlighting the need of developing locally created treatments.

She advised them to put what they had learned throughout the five-day course to good use in order to make a positive effect on society.

ACEDHARS has also offered 27 Liberians full scholarships to study medicine utilizing Liberian plants at the Master's and Ph.D. levels, according to Madam Ade-Ademilua.

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She added that the scholarship recipients will travel to Nigeria to do research, but that they would need a busy laboratory facility, thus she is requesting funding from the Liberian government to build a laboratory at the School of Pharmacy.

She also requested the Liberian government to assist by providing scholarships, claiming that they can only do so much and that their resources are insufficient to serve all of the students, and that the program covers five Master's degrees and five PhDs.

As per Madam Ade-Ademilua, the World Bank is sponsoring the program with USD six million to the University of Lagos to assist enhance West and Central African countries, including Djibouti. As a result, we're collaborating with key nations to develop drugs, herbal medicines, and drug and herbal medicine regulation.

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Mohammed Kamara, the head of the Ministry of Health's additional section, also spoke at the event and commended the ACEHDERS on their partnership that has led Liberia this far, especially for their efforts in bringing the plan to fruition.

According to him, Liberia has the greatest forest resource potential on Africa's west coast. According to the NFI-driven forest definition, which includes plantations, its average forest cover outnumbers all other nations in the Upper Guinean forests. This indicates that Liberia remains a thriving herbal medicine center.

He urged the scholarship recipients to take advantage of the chance to grow as individuals and advocates for the growth of safe and effective herbal medicine.

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