Nigeria’s health sector is witnessing a dramatic turn for the better as the federal government has adopted orthodox medicines like other countries. In this report, SUNNY IDACHABA writes that this will not only change the healthcare service narrative for the citizenry, but it will also attract investors in the fast-growing local and global herbal markets.

The journey to integration

At last, what seemed like an eternity to be realised has received the nod of the federal government. It is the commercialisation and integration of traditional medicines into phytoscience for the use of Nigerians.

The indication emerged sometime in 2025 when the Minister of State for Health and Human Services, Dr. Adekunle Salako, inaugurated a Ministerial Committee for the Development of Phytomedicine Value Chain that would integrate traditional and modern medicine.

He also charged the committee to lay the foundation for a thriving phytomedicine industry that supports health outcomes, boosts rural livelihoods, and contributes to Nigeria’s gross domestic product.

Speaking further, Salako stated that the inauguration of the committee was a testament of the current administration’s commitment to advancing the phytomedicine value chain initiative through the ministry to achieve universal health coverage, economic diversification, employment opportunities and wealth creation.

“This is not just a health policy; it is also a socio-economic policy. Therefore, it is envisaged that the commercialisation of the phytomedicine value chain would provide jobs in the area of conservation, cultivation and harvesting of medicinal plants and, the production of herbal medicinal products locally at the industrial scale,” he noted.

Determined to strengthen the government’s deliberate objectives in the development and commercialisation of phytomedicinal resources in the country, Salako pointed out that the ministry would harness Nigeria’s vast bio-diversity and traditional use of medicinal plants and natural medicine to treat and manage various ailments.

He said, “This would ensure Nigeria’s participation in the fast-growing global market for herbal medicinal products and its contribution to our national economy.”

We’ll ensure clinical validation, quality assurance and global export – NIPRD

In aligning with the government’s position, the committee chairman, Dr. Obi Adigwe, who is also the director-general of Nigeria Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), said the committee would collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure that high quality, safe, efficacious and affordable phytomedicines became both a pillar of Nigeria’s healthcare strategy, and a driving force for economic transformation.

According to Adigwe, “We would lead every step of the value chain from discovery and formulation to clinical validation, quality assurance and global export. We would create high-value employment, build robust capacity, secure revenue streams and above all, improve health outcomes for Nigerians.”

The terms of reference for the committee included to develop a comprehensive framework for the commercialisation of phytomedicine products in Nigeria, identify key pythomedicinal products with commercial potential, propose policy reforms and regulatory mechanisms.

Others are: to create pathways for capacity building and knowledge exchange among stakeholders in the phytomedicine value chain- including traditional healers, scientists, pharmacists and, entrepreneurs, recommend sustainable financing and investment models, ensure alignment with national health strategies and global health practices in line with WHO guidelines on traditional medicine.

Drugs will be available to citizens at affordable prices – Minister

A year after, all seems set for a proactive policy action as, according to the minister at a recent outing on the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), “Traditional medicines have been with us for a long while now. For most Nigerians, it’s the first, and sometimes, the only source of healthcare that they have.

If we are talking about Universal Health Coverage, we should, therefore, make medicines available to all Nigerians at their point of need, where they need it and, of course, at affordable prices.

In the past, he said, Nigerians were able to take traditional medicines from the corners of community practitioners to the table of orthodox medicine practitioners.

“NIPRD, for instance, right from the 80s, actually developed and extracted from pharmaceutical plants that were akin to Nigerians. Today, they are being prescribed in over 40 countries across the world.

“That shows that if we set our minds to it, put structures in place, we can take a lot of pharmaceutical medicines to the table of doctors where they can prescribe for patients and add value to humanity.

Regulatory mechanism

The minister also stressed about the need for regulations, both at the federal and the sub-national levels.

He said: “Government is intentional about this, and let me say that today, in the Ministry of Health, we have a directorate in charge of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine.

“We are also advising sub-nationals to set up regulatory mechanisms for traditional medicines. With these and many more, we are set to revert to phyto-science medicine and make it a centre-point of our healthcare delivery.”

‘Traditional medicines’ve been with humanity for so long’ 

A phyto-science specialist at the Centre of Excellence, University of Jos, Prof. Abraham Dogo, who is actively involved in the evolution of this area of medicine, agreed with the minister that the transformation that the health sector was set to experience is not competitive but complementary.

According to him, “What the government is doing now is a welcome development because traditional medicines have been with humanity for so long.”

Also, a pharmacist and the Managing Director of May and Baker, Dr. Patrick Ajah, said all over the world, the practice of medicine is supposed to be the same, saying that was why Nigeria should follow the trend in medical evolution.

“If the government is willing and all other agencies are very intentional about it, it is very possible because that is the new direction.

“Where we are now is far and different from where we were 20 years ago. Let me make it clear that some of the orthodox medicines we have currently are from local herbs. Safety is a lot better with natural medicines than orthodox medicines. That is so because in many instances, some of the chemicals in orthodox medicines have side effects and that is why they have to go through clinical trials.”

Giving further impetus

In order to enhance the momentum to this evolution, the federal government has unveiled seven herbal medicines developed by the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) for the treatment and management of prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, peptic ulcer disease, hypertension, high cholesterol and hepatitis B.

The unveiling was part of a major push aimed at advancing local pharmaceutical innovation to tackle healthcare needs shortfalls in Nigeria.

The NNMDA disclosed that more than 22 herbal products had been developed from indigenous medicinal plants since 2023 to address Nigerians’ health needs locally. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr. Kingsley Udeh, unveiled the herbal products recently in Lagos.

Udeh said Nigeria is richly endowed with thousands of medicinal plants which, if effectively harnessed, could provide solutions to the diverse health conditions affecting Nigerians.

The minister noted that traditional medicine had, for centuries, met the healthcare needs of indigenous communities, while assuring of the government’s readiness to address the major challenges confronting the agency to enable it to do more.

The minister commended the leadership and staff of the agency for their research and development of natural medicines for tropical diseases and other health conditions, including malaria, sickle cell disease, erectile dysfunction and diabetes.

Change the narrative of drug importation

While presenting the agency’s ongoing research and medicinal plants cultivated across the country, some of which were used to develop the seven herbal products unveiled by the minister, the Director-General of NNMDA, Prof. Martins Emeje, said the efficacy of herbal medicine was no longer in doubt, stressing that standardisation now ensured proper dosage.

Emeje, who is the co-chair of the World Health Organisation’s Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine, expressed excitement over the unveiling of the products, noting that traditional medicines were now being produced in standard dosage forms such as capsules, tablets and syrups.

He said, “We want to change the narrative of drug importation in Nigeria. We must develop our medicines and export them. One of the products launched here today, when fully developed across the value chain, has the capacity to generate 3.5 million jobs.”