ABUJA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government launched a strategic phytomedicine initiative on Wednesday to diversify the economy while advancing healthcare innovation and delivery in the African country.
Inaugurating a ministerial committee to drive the new Phytomedicine Value Chain Initiative, Iziaq Adekunle Salako, the minister of state for health and social welfare, told reporters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, that the development is expected to unlock the economic and therapeutic potential of Nigeria's rich biodiversity through herbal or botanical medicine.
"This initiative is both a health and socio-economic policy. It supports the government's broader goals of achieving universal health coverage, creating jobs, and driving economic diversification," Salako said, noting the most populous African country stands at the threshold of transforming its vast reservoir of medicinal plants into a dynamic source of economic growth and improved healthcare delivery.
While local communities in Nigeria have long relied on medicinal plants for traditional healing, he said the resources have yet to be fully harnessed to benefit the broader economy and health system.
According to the official, the new initiative is designed to shift the narrative by integrating traditional medicine into formal economic and healthcare structures. By commercializing its phytomedicine sector, he said, Nigeria will generate employment in plant conservation, cultivation, harvesting, and industrial-scale production of herbal medicinal products.
He added that this will enable the West African country to claim its share in the rapidly expanding global phytomedicine market.
