Indigenous plants offer Ghanaians an alternative to costly Western medicine

Traditional plant medicine remains the primary source of health care for an estimated 60 to 70 percent of Ghanaians, according to a 2023 study cited in the report, as Western pharmaceuticals and clinical care grow costlier.

The government-created Center for Plant Medicine Research, founded in 1976, sees roughly 16,000 outpatients a month and works to scientifically validate remedies long used by traditional practitioners, per its deputy director.

Vendors in Accra sell fresh bark, leaves, and vines each morning, and researchers are studying plants including one shrub showing promise against prostate cancer, though the deputy director cautioned that correct dosage, not just correct plant, determines whether a remedy helps or harms.

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