The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Worldwide use
Herbal medicine is used all over the world, and Uganda is no exception. Figures suggest that up to 79% of the East African nation’s population favours herbal medicine for a variety of ailments rather than pursuing other treatment options.
According to the latest global report the WHO Global Report on Traditional and Complementary Medicine 2019, it is estimated that between 60–79% of the population in Uganda use indigenous traditional medicine. It notes that over 200,000 indigenous traditional medicine providers were practising in Uganda as at 2012. The number of herbal medicine providers is similarly estimated to be over 200,000. Also practising in Uganda are providers of acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy, osteopathy, traditional Chinese medicine and other practices, such as spiritual therapy (estimated to be more than 100,000) and hydrotherapy. The traditional and complementary medicine providers practise in private sector clinics and home-based settings.
COVID-19 has escalated the use of herbal medicine. In June 2021 the government approved the use of a herbal remedy, Covidex, as a treatment for COVID-19. The substance contains extracts of berberine and zanthoxylum gilletii plants used as supplements and treatments of viral ailments. The remedy had not undergone clinical trials and the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned against its use.
Dr. Solome Okware of the WHO’s Uganda office said, although WHO consulted researchers from nine African countries, including Uganda, in March about the use of traditional medicine to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, Covidex was not among the traditional medicines that were evaluated.
“WHO has not received any information about this product,” Okware said.
She added: “Many plants and substances are being proposed without the minimum requirements and evidence of quality, safety and efficacy. The use of products to treat COVID-19 which have not yet been robustly investigated can be harmful if the due process is not followed.”
Apart from Covidex, communities in Uganda are also using other herbal remedies to treat and manage COVID-19.
At first glance, this should not be an issue. Herbal medicine has proven to be very effective in treating several ailments like malaria, tuberculosis, cough and skin diseases. But using it is not without risks. There is a myth among the local population and some herbalists that medicinal plants do not produce toxic effects: they think that, since medicinal plants are natural, there are no negative effects and you can take any amount you want. However, a lot of research has shown that some medicinal plants can be toxic.
The Makerere University researchers cite findings of a 2018 study by several researchers led by Adel Ghorani-Azam of the Medical Toxicology Research Centre of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences of Iran that was published a paper in the Journal of Research in medical Sciences. Titled `Plant toxins and acute medicinal plant poisoning in children: A systematic literature review’, it gave evidence that a single ingested dose of toxic plants can cause acute poisoning.
The problem is that herbal remedies don’t always undergo proper scientific tests for quality, efficacy and safety. Sometimes people might underdose, meaning that even if the remedy is safe, it doesn’t help them. On the other hand, some may take too much of a remedy and this can be toxic.
Namukobe says it is important that herbal medicine – just like the medication usually found on pharmacy shelves – be checked for its safety, its potential to treat particular ailments, and to ascertain its chemical components. She says checking for safety, potential to treat particular ailments, and ascertaining chemical components of herbal medicine is also very useful in drug discovery.
“Uganda could add herbal treatments to the global market, knowing they are safe and effective,” Namukobe says, “this would be good news for Uganda’s scientists, its economy, and ordinary people all over the world who could benefit from new remedies.”
****
