Odopee eye centre honoured
The eye healing prowess of the Odopee Herbal Treatment Centre at Mankessim in the Central Region has received national recognition as the only herbal clinic in the country using herbal medicine to manage eye conditions.
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The centre was among award recepients at the maiden awards gala in Accra oganised by the Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (GHAFTRAM) where outstanding herbalists and herbal clinics were honoured.
Unlike other award categories which had several nominations, the Odopee Herbal Treatment Centre was solely picked for its award category.
The award committee comprised experts from the Centre for Plant Medicine Research at Mampong Akuapem and some executive members of GHAFTRAM.
The Daily Graphic broke the eye healing prowess of Odopee Herbal Treatment Centre in December 2019.
Gratitude
Speaking to the media after the awards ceremony, the Proprietor of the Odopee Herbal Treatment Centre, John Kofi Sackey, expressed gratitude to the Daily Graphic for highlighting the activities of the centre to the outside world, which had attracted patronage in Ghana and from abroad.
He said since 2019, more than 2,000 eye patients had visited the centre for treatment, with more than half of them receiving complete healing.
Mr Sackey appealed to the government, non-governmental organisations and well-to-do individuals to assist the centre to expand its operations to cater for more people with vision impairment.
He thanked the national executive of GHAFTRAM and the Centre for Plant Medicine Research for their support.
Another award winner, Samuel Nyarko, the Proprietor of Akwantufuo Herbal Clinic at Techiman, who was also recognised as the best in the management of piles in the country, also expresed gratitude to GHAFTRAM and the awards committee for the honour
He promised to maximise his output to cater for more people with piles.
At the same ceremony, the immediate past President of GHAFTRAM, Kojo Odum Eduful, was honoured with a cheque for GH¢50,000 for his 10-year dedicated service to the association.
Potential
The President of GHAFTRAM, Prof. Samuel Ato Duncan, emphasised that traditional medicine had enormous potential to improve the health of the people and contribute to the prosperity of the nation.
"Through the use of traditional medicines, we can improve access to health care services, especially in the rural areas where access to modern orthodox medicines may be limited," he stressed.
The General Secretary of GHAFTRAM, Samuel Nana Kwadwo Obiri, said to ensure fairness, all the 18 national executive board members of the association were excluded from participating in the competition.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Alfert Dwumfour, speaking as the guest of honour at the ceremony, commended traditional medicine practitioners for their contribution to the health care delivery system in the country.
He, however, urged them to improve upon their products and penetrate into the international market to generate more foreign exchange for themselves and the nation.
