Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA has urged international agencies and civil societies to collaborate on research, innovation and ethical commercialisation of traditional medicine, highlighting its potential to enhance healthcare and contribute to sustainable economic development.
Mohamed Mchengerwa, the Health minister stated this need at a seminar on rethinking health systems for equity, safety and resilience in traditional medicine at the second international conference on traditional medicine organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), ongoing in New Delhi.
He said that Tanzania is ‘transitioning’ traditional medicine from purely cultural practices to scientifically-backed, professionally regulated, digitally-managed systems that contribute to the national economy.
Currently, up to 60 percent of people falling sick consult traditional healers, with up to 60,000 registered practitioners and more than 2,000 certified facilities countrywide, he stated, explaining the government’s focus on community-oriented, cost-effective research that ensures the safety, quality and efficacy of traditional remedies.
This approach is aligned with the WHO 2025–2034 traditional medicine strategy, which seeks professional regulation rather than outright restriction of traditional medicine, he said, indicating moves to integrate the sub-sector with modern healthcare systems.
A total of 27 traditional medicine products have been incorporated into public health services since 2023, as integration is not about competition with conventional medicine but a collaborative effort aimed at achieving universal health coverage, he said.
So far the government has registered 141 traditional medicine products, with more than 90 percent produced by local small-scale manufacturers, thus supporting job creation and fostering economic growth.
It also encourages public-private partnerships in medicinal plant cultivation, processing and market development locally and internationally, the minister affirmed, pointing at the importance of protecting intellectual property and traditional knowledge.
This requires the leveraging of artificial intelligence and digital technologies to preserve, verify and safeguard indigenous medical wisdom, as technology will enhance, not replace expertise of traditional healers, he specified.
The three-day conference is set to conclude with remarks from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expected to underscore the high-level policy significance of the event in promoting the role of traditional medicine in global health systems.
