Participants of the 2018 National Science & Maths Quiz and Science Festival on Tuesday, June 13, 2018, embarked on an educational trip to the Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR) at Mampong.
The visit forms part of activities lined up by Primetime, producers of NSMQ2018, to expose the contingent to the practical and business dimensions of science.
The mandate of the centre is to regulate persons and facilities that engage in Traditional medicine sales in Ghana as well as testing and discovering new drugs and making sure of the efficacy of the drugs. CPMR also trains traditional herbalists and runs an out-patient clinic which treats more than 16,000 patients a month.
Receiving the students, Mr. Baffour Osei Akoto, Public Relations Officer of the Centre for Plants Medicine Research, made a case for the use of herbal medicine as a natural choice for all Ghanaians. He indicated that the centre also has the responsibility of regulating the various traditional medicines sold on the Ghanaian market. This, according to him, is to rid the market of fake drugs with the potential of having an adverse effect on persons who use them.
The NSMQ2018 participants were taken round the facilities of the centre to learn more about their operations.
They also had the opportunity to meet and interact with Professor Augustine Oklu, Executive Director of the Centre for Plant Medicine Research as well as other researchers and specialists.
In response to a question posed by one of the students about the claim of some herbal vendors of having drugs that cure several ailments, Prof. Oklu indicated that some plants contain compounds with the potential of healing different sickness but asked the patrons of the herbs to seek a qualified doctor’s advise before use.
Educational trips to the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and Kantanka Automobile Company have also been scheduled for the contingent.
The National Science & Maths Quiz and Science Festival is sponsored by the Ghana Education Service through the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), with support from GCB Bank, GTP, Lancaster University Ghana, Academic City College, Medifem Multi-Specialist Hospital, Accra College of Medicine, Hawtie Makeup, West African Centre for Cell Biology for Infectious Pathogens and Awake Purified Drinking water. The Sci-Tech Fair is sponsored by Goil, Prudential Life Insurance Ghana, and Tullow, while Bond Savings & Loans and RMG Ghana Ltd are sponsoring the Mentorship Sessions.
