Herbfest seeks collaboration between herbal, medical practitioners

Herbfest seeks collaboration between herbal, medical practitioners to beat COVID-19

By : Charles Ozioma

Date: 4 November 2021 4:05am WAT

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JUSTINE GERARDY Samson "Ngonyama" Mvubo, who's been practicing as a traditional healer since he was 10-year-old, walks inside his shop on September 2, 2009 at the Faraday market in Johannesburg. In the eclectic buzz of Africa's richest city, where run-down buildings abutt sleek mining houses, is a gateway to a centuries-old world of giant tubers, herbs and musty animal parts. The Faraday medicine market, a stone's throw from one of Johannesburg's revamped 2010 World Cup football stadiums, is where South Africans come to seek help for anything from high blood pressure to warding off bad dreams. AFP PHOTO/ PABALLO THEKISO

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Medical experts have said collaboration between herbal and orthodox medicine practitioners could lead to the effective production of medicines to suppress COVID-19.

High-profile scientists at the 12th edition of Herb Fest 2021, which was held virtually, warned that the country should not neglect the role of herbal medicine in the treatment of various diseases.

A haematology oncologist at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof. Edamisan Temiye, presented an interim report on ongoing clinical trials of IHP Detox Tea as possible phytomedicine for COVID-19 at the Hospital.

Temiye said it was discovered that during the trial, those on Detox Tea cleared their viruses/diseases faster than those on conventional trials. Temiye warned that pregnant women have not been included in the trial. So, they cannot give a go-ahead to pregnant women to take the tea yet because the process involved in pregnant women trials is very rigorous. He said coronaviruses are zoonotic diseases that are associated with the common cold, pneumonia, and severe acute respiratory syndrome which can also affect the gut.

Temiye assured the audience that indeed coronaviruses are responsible for between 15 and 30 percent of common colds. He gave reasons for this study as efforts at developing a vaccine to curtail the spread of the virus has yielded encouraging results with over 22 candidate vaccines in various stages of clinical trials. And, currently, at least three types of vaccines are available in Nigeria to combat this virus.

The haematology oncologist said IHP Detox Tea contains Andrographis, Garcinia kola seed extract and Psidium guajava leaf extract. He said one of the numerous purposes of the study was to determine the efficacy and safety of the product when used as an adjuvant with already known and available conventional therapy for novel COVID-19 in Nigeria. He added that the tea appears to have no deleterious effect on the renal and hepatic functions of those who took the tea in his study. Temiye, however, said larger samples are needed to make statistically meaningful conclusions.

The theme of the virtual conference was “Herbal Medicine As a Complementary Treatment for COVID-19.”

Prof. Omayma A. Eldahshan from the University of Ainshams, Cairo, Egypt, in her presentation said natural products are considered safe and available repository for potential drug target modulators.

Eldahshan said some natural products, present in green and black teas are supporting supplements or nucleus for further drug design and development campaigns.

The two-day natural herbal product expo also had Dr. Elumba Prosper from Cameroon who has a degree in Nursing Science. Prosper said traditional medicine once considered quackery is making a resurgence. Also, he said, not forgetting the history and content of herbalism with the existence of man were many ancient civilizations used herbal medicine to prevent and treat cold and influenza infections.

The virtual conference had sub-themes such as: “Herbal Formula used in COVID-19 Therapy, “Update on IHP Detox Tea Clinic Trial”, “Immune Fortification Therapy and Artemisia”.