Ancient medicines practitioners urge GVT to invest more in the sector

Rendo Chikirimbani

Secretary of the Zimbabwe Traditional Healers Association Dr Belinda Magida who was among the Zimbabwe delegation to the 2025 Hong Kong International traditional Chinese Medicine Expo has urged the government to invest more in ancient medicines so as to capacitate the existing use of traditional medicines which is beneficial to the country.

Dr Magida who is the founder of Rootlife Herbal Surgery which specialises in ancient medicines was speaking to journalists soon after landing at the Robert Mugabe International  Airport in HARARE from the nine-day ancient medicine exhibition held in Hong Kong, this Thursday.

She also said their attendance to the annual exhibition highlights the strides the country is making in advancing the use of traditional medicine, where local herbs were very popular with the delegates.

“Our local herbs are very important and are highly revered in other countries such as China who ironically put ahead their own ancient medicines ahead of modern medicines,” she said.

“We took with us local ancient cancer treatment herbs as well as sexual enhancement drugs which proved to be a hit among the delegates”.

DR Magida said our local herbs are very powerful as was witnessed in Hong Kong but what lacks is the technical aspect in packaging as well as extracting the herbs from the source.

“Moden expensive medicines coming from outside the country are extracted from our own local  herbs and if thegovernment can invest in the processing of local ancient herbs, the more the country benefits by lowering the import bill on medicines”, she said.

Ancient traditional herbs are critically important in Zimbabwe for primary healthcare, treating diverse conditions such asgastro-intestinal disorders and malaria, as well as contributing to the community health and cultural practices.

These herbs are a vital resource, especially for rural populations, and also hold potential for the discovery of new pharmaceuticals and the preservation of Indigenous Knowledge System.