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Herald Reporter

GOVERNMENT has partnered traditional medical practitioners from China that are expected to set up shop in Zimbabwe and carry out more research on the efficacy and safety of some herbs in managing diseases such as Covid-19.

Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo recently said a unit had since been identified at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals where the medicines would be coordinated from.

Dr Moyo said Chinese traditional medicine was strong and highly recommended.

“They have already identified a facility where the traditional Chinese medicine will be based so that we can be able to develop it and bring in more medicines and use them,” said Dr Moyo.

“We are considering the use of Chinese traditional medicine in our Covid-19 response.

“China also used this for its response at the height of the pandemic in Wuhan. Chinese traditional medicine is very highly recommended so we really want to follow and learn.”

In relation to local traditional medicine, Dr Moyo said they were looking forward to getting guidance from China on conducting planned researches on effectiveness and safety.

China was expected to guide Zimbabwe on how to use the herbs and develop them.

“It’s a very useful area which we are seriously looking into,” he said.

Although the use of traditional medicine had proved effective in other countries such as Madagascar and China in fighting Covid-19, none had so far been approved by the World Health Organisation.

At the beginning of the outbreak in Zimbabwe, one of the country’s herbalists made headlines when he got the green light from the department of traditional medicine in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, to assist Covid-19 patients.

Criticism was more on monitoring and coordination of suspected cases than on efficacy of the medicine.