Expanding The Frontiers Of Herbal Medicine

This time the difference was clear. Yes, the Brother Roman Centre, Ekpoma, where the 1st Pax Herbal training for orthodox medical practitioners was held in February 2009, is serene, quiet and peaceful. Yes, these features are also present at St. Benedict Monastery, Ewu-Esan, where Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories is situated, along the very busy Benin-Auchi Road.

Even at that, the difference was clear. The humming of sophisticated equipment at Pax Centre, which accommodates the clinic, laboratory, Quality Control Unit, Dispensary, Loading Bay, Secretariat, Cyber Café, and scores of staff in overalls, depict a marked difference.

The 2nd training of orthodox medical practitioners in the application of herbal products on the stable of Pax took place in the Conference Room. Being within the precinct of Pax Headquarters presented participants an opportunity to see the different stages the products go through during production. Whatever differences the venue of the 2nd training paraded, dovetailed into a climax reminiscent of the 1st workshop at the Brother Roman Centre, Ekpoma. On the last day of the programme, on Friday, February 20, the Edo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Moses Momoh, visited Pax Centre with top government officials, including the permanent secretary and directors in the different arms of the ministry.

On that occasion, the commissioner and members of his entourage had a robust interaction with the trainees. The orthodox medical practitioners who had begun to apply Pax herbal products together with orthodox drugs in treating their patients, strove to convince their counterparts in the public service on the efficacy of Pax products and the need to encourage and support the development of medicine, essentially its application in the nation's health care delivery system.

Like it happened at the 1st workshop, the climax of the 2nd edition was the formal visit of the Chief Medical Director,(CMD), Irrua Specialist Hospital, (ISTH), Prof. George Akpede and his management team; the Dean of Clinical Services, Ambrose Alli University, (AAU), Prof.Ohaju Obedo, and management staff of the College of Medicine.

Rev. Fr. Anslem Adodo, OSB, in his welcome address explained that Pax Herbal is irrevocably committed to the transformation of the herbal medicine sector because over 70 per cent of Africans depend on herbal medicine when they fall ill. He added that most families in Nigeria are resorting to herbal medicine in the treatment of malaria due to widespread resistance of the illness to orthodox drugs and the rampant seizure of fake malaria drugs by regulatory agencies.

Adodo reasoned that having received visitors from the World Health Organisation, (WHO); the United Nations; the United States; Europe; Zimbabwe; Abuja and other capital cities in Nigeria, it became imperative to approach the management of Irrua Specialist Hospital, in whose locality Paxherbals operate, for a formal visit.
He disclosed that a corroborative programme in which the Sickle Cell Centre, in Benin, uses Pax Herbal products for its patients is already in progress. The Sickle Cell Centre is expected to intimate pax with a detailed progress report.

Adodo reiterated that Pax Clinic has over 2000 HIV patients in its clinical list, covering a period of 10 years, adding that the poor ones among them are usually given free herbal treatment.

“Our ultimate goal”, he continued, “is the production of anti-retroviral capsules that will be affordable by the poor rural dwellers. So, we need a CD4-Count (CYFLOW machine), and viral load, (PCR machine), of persons living with HIV/AIDS, so as to have a properly documented follow up”. Fr. Adodo described the visit of the Management of ISTH and the management of the College of Medicine, during the 2nd phase of Pax Herbal training for orthodox medical practitioners as “a pleasant coincidence”. Retrospectively, it was reminiscent of the Edo State Commissioner of Health visit to Pax Centre in February, on the last day of 1st workshop.

Head of the department of Botany, AAU, Ekpoma, Dr. Samuel Emua, explained that Pax Herbal is based in Esanland, and that “it will be painful and regrettable for ISTH, which, ideally, should be the First Parent to Pax Herbal, to ignore its baby and, consequently, allow some other persons to adopt your child while you are still alive”.

After a formal tour of Pax Centre, which lasted 45 minutes; it was clear from the mirthful mien of the visitors that some erstwhile negative notions against the practice of herbal medicine had been left behind. Cognisant of the new mood of passive curiosity and palpable infectious amazement being manifested by the visitors as they sat down in the conference room, Dr.Emua, an embodiment of wisecracks, paused for effect and looked at the CMD and Prof. Obedo. “All you have seen here today”, he moved to the left, and then to the right, and thundered: “are herbal products borne out of sincere work. The finished products are the outcome of the judicious use of available resources”.

In his response, the CMD, Prof. Akpede, who spoke in a cheerful tone, recalled, “The management of ISTH was here four years ago, but I must admit that Pax, then, was not what it is today. “Today”, he paused, allowing a pregnant smile to crawl along his lips: “Pax is a transformed place and we are glad to have come here today. Most of the agents used in the relaxation of muscles are from plants”.

He admitted: “Most of the great drugs we have today came from plants. We, from ISTH and the College of Medicine, truly commend your enterprise. There is no doubt Pax will grow bigger. From what we have seen here today, we believe there is need for a rewarding collaboration and partnership”.
“The problem with herbal practice in the past was the undue secrecy attached to their practice, which has caused us so much wasted knowledge because most of them died with their hidden knowledge”, he regretted.

“Almost 100 per cent of what we saw are positive. Even the negative points noticed, if any, also have their positive sides. We can collaborate in research; treatment of malaria; Lassa fever and HIV. Lassa fever remains a major challenge to us. We believe this cooporation will be very fruitful”, he admitted. Prof. Akpede assured his audience: “We are determined to break the mysticism associated with herbal medicine. We should not blame our fore-fathers; they were influenced by survival instincts. We are begging those still tarrying to strive to document the herbal cure they know. From what we have seen, our medical students need to come here for some practical studies before their graduation”, he assured.

He further suggested that Pax ISTH and College of Medicine, Ekpoma, should initiate a tripartite committee, starting with clinical trials, as well as examining the extracts from its herbal preparation to commence research into the possibility of preparing drugs from such extracts, rather than scampering to Europe.
In his remarks, the Dean of the College of Medicine, Prof. Obede, promised to promote a fruitful collaboration with Pax that would require medical students from AAU to do some practical internship at Pax Centre, in order to gain some knowledge in the administration of herbal medicines before their graduation”.

Those who participated in the workshop include Prof. Joseph Sodipo, a physician, anesthesiologist and acupuncturist; Dr. Taiwo Fadeyi, Medical Director, F & G Clinic and Laboratory Services; Dr. Emmanso Umobong, Programme Director, Sickle Cell Outreach Programme; Dr. Chidi Nwankwo, former Chairman, Nigeria Medical Association, (NMA), Dr. Gladys Onojobi, Assistant Professor, hematology/oncology division, Howard University, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Felicia Nwogalaga, a pharmacist and Pax distributor; Dr. Patrick Ijewere, a medical doctor and pharmacist as well as Executive Director, Pax International; Mrs. Elizabeth Odili, a pharmacist and Pax Coordinator, Rivers State; Ms. Anthonia Osifo, a nurse and an executive of Pax International; Mrs. Kate Joe-Nwasha, a nurse and Pax Herbal Coordinator in Niger State and Mrs. Chinyere Uzoh, a nurse and Pax Herbal Coordinator in Abia State.