New regulations to be issued to herbalists
Jul 06, 2014
The Government is to issue new regulations that will require herbalists to submit their products for scientific research, before they are advertised for use.
The Government is to issue new regulations that will require herbalists to submit their products for scientific research, before they are advertised for use.
The regulations will be released at the sixth annual National Research ethics Conference in Kampala on Tuesday.
The conference is expected to review Uganda’s commitment to principles of research ethics, such as respect for persons, beneficence and justice.
Presently, herbalists and traditional healers operate without oversight from the Government.
In 1997, the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology issued guidelines for researchers, which were revised in 2007.
The council regulates all forms of scientific research through ethics committees.
Dr. Fred Nakwagala, a member of Mulago hospital’s ethics committee, said: “effective next week, no herbal researcher will be allowed to supply medicine without approval from the council.”
Parliament is scrutinizing the Indigenous and Complementary Medicine Bill 2013 that seeks to regulate the practice of herbalists and traditionalists.
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