Hawassa University College of Natural and Computational Science Hosts 3rd National Research Conference under the theme ‘Bringing products of nature and services to the public: Medicinal plants, Indigenous Knowledge and practice’ at the main campus.
Dr. Zeytu Gashaw, Dean of College of Natural and Computational Science, said during his welcoming speech that nature has provided us with rich botanical wealth and a large number of diverse plant species with diverse characteristics. Biodiversity is the gift of nature to plant earth as he explained. He added that medicinal plants are the local heritage of global importance. The importance of medicinal plants has been overlooked in the past; however, at present medicinal plants are looked upon not only as a source of affordable Medicare but also as a source of income. According to a WHO report, over 80% of the world's population relies on traditional medicine, largely plant based for their primary health care needs. In Ethiopia, the use of plants for medical treatment has a long history and our knowledge of medicinal plants has mostly been inherited traditionally.
Dr. Ayano Berasso, Hawassa University President, made opening speech and said that medicinal plants as a part of plant biodiversity are abundantly distributed in different ecological situations in developing countries. Traditional medicine practitioners mostly implement herbs, spiritual healing, bone-setting, and minor surgical procedures in treating diseases. Ethiopia's traditional medicine is vastly complex, diverse, and varies greatly among ethnic groups. The country is an important regional center for biological diversity due to its suitable geographical land. The President further said that Ethiopia is rich in medicinal plant biodiversity, and is great scope for developing traditional medicines using such medicinal plants. The medical practitioners in the coming years would depend more on drugs derived from plants using modern scientific methods of screening and isolation of active molecules.
Prof. Ermias Dagne, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at Addis Ababa University, presented about developing products of nature for health, body care, economic benefits, and how to bring natural products to the public based on his several years of academic and business experiences.
Hakim Mrs, Abebech Shiferaw also presented about traditional plants and her age-long experiences on the issues, and Dr. Frew Kebede, Associate professor of Botany at Hawassa University, also presented about medical plants of Ethiopia: Use and conservation status.
Finally, fruitful discussions have been made by the participants and the program was concluded successfully.
