Problems facing herbal medicine delivery in Ghana
Willford Edem Dorglo
Pokupharma Co. Ltd, Ghana
: J Pharm Drug Deliv Res
Abstract
Healthcare in Ghana is generally near the top of Sub-Saharan African rankings, but bottlenecks in delivery remain, along with certain gaps in policy and practice. Overcoming these challenges will involve policy-makers thinking out-of-the-box to create a space for the numerous micro-entrepreneurs who are the backbone of Ghana’s herbal medicine practice to thrive. This is an opportunity to support national equitable healthcare delivery goals as well as national economic development goals. The continued advancement of herbal medicine practice promises significant opportunities for job creation across the herbal medicine value chain. Moreover, beyond their use at home, there are also significant opportunities to commercialize herbal medicine products in global markets. Perhaps it is time to put herbal medicine on a more industrial footing. We at Pokupharma Company Limited are far advance to add to our wide range of drugs. Antiretroviral herbal drugs to augment foreign imports. In my submission, I write on alternative system of medicines, the practice it faces in Ghana with reference to Antiretroviral herbal medicine. The human immunodeficiency virus has infected millions of people and the epidemic continues to grow rapidly in some parts of the Africa. Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy has provided improved treatment and prolonged the life expectancy of patients. Moreover, there is growing interest in using ARVs to protect against new infections. Hence, ARVs have emerged as our primary strategy in combating the virus. Unfortunately, several challenges limit the optimal performance of these drugs. First, ARVs often require life-long use and complex dosing regimens. This results in low patient adherence and periods of lapsed treatment manifesting in drug resistance. This has prompted the development of alternate dosage forms such as vaginal rings and long-acting injectables that stand to improve patient adherence. Another problem central to therapeutic failure is the inadequate penetration of drugs into infected tissues. This can lead to incomplete treatment, development of resistance, and viral rebound. Several strategies have been developed to improve drug penetration into these drugfree sanctuaries. These include encapsulation of drugs in nanoparticles, use of pharmacokinetic enhancers, and cell-based drug delivery platforms. In this review, we discuss issues surrounding ARV therapy and their impact on drug efficacy. We also describe various drug delivery–based approaches developed to overcome these issues. Ghanaian herbal medicine and health care practice systems are not well documented and characterized in writing.
Biography
Willford Edem Dorglo is currently working at Pokupharma Co. Ltd, Ghana. His research interests are herbal medicine, drug delivery and industrial aspects of pharmacology. Currently he is working on affects of drugs extracted from herbal sources.
E-mail: osbon5219@yahoo.com
