A university don has urged the government to invest heavily in traditional medicine as a substitute to conventional forms of treatment.
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology lecturer Dr Sylvester Anami said streamlining of the traditional curative methods would help save lives of Kenyans who were in need of medication.
He said millions of Kenyans were now suffering and losing their lives due to the doctors’ strike when they would have been assisted by traditional healers.
“Use of traditional curative methods is still frowned upon by many Kenyans and viewed as outdated and satanic yet it can be the best alternative to conventional treatment if fully supported by the government,” said Anami.
“I, thus, urge the government to come up with measures that will promote and streamline this unexploited sub-sector,” he added.
Anami, a research scientist, was speaking when he helped raise funds for three churches in Kakamega County yesterday.
He said traditional medicine was already playing a critical role in the health sector even as it was viewed as illegal and archaic.
He called for conservation and preservation of, particularly, the Kakamega Forest which he said was rich in medicinal trees and plants.
