Herbal Medicine Must Be Subjected...

The first thing I want to establish is for us to demystify Traditional Medicine; to disabuse the minds of people that there is something mystical, magical and in-explainable about Traditional Medicine. I want people to know and believe that traditional medicine is derived from plants, stems, roots and barks of plants that are also edible. It is the proportion in which they are mixed and processed that makes them to become medicines.

At Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories, Ewu, you will see the herbs, roots, stems and barks either fresh or dried; you will see how they are washed and dried; or how they are cut to pieces, blended, processed and packaged into the form that they can be prescribed as medicines.

Second, I want to make sure that the quantities of herbal solutions are measured in such a way that we can establish dosages that are effective. For me, it is not enough to establish that a product is not harmful. I believe we also need to establish its efficacy, that the product is good and effective in curing an ailment.

The aspect of required dosage remains a controversial aspect of herbal medicine, even though Traditional Medicine Practitioners, (TMP's), continue to insist that herbal products are essentially from herbs which are primarily food sources, what is your position?
No. No. They cannot say that taking herbal medicine is like taking their normal meals. When your eat egusi soup, ogbono soup or bitter leaf soup, you know they are mixed with other ingredients. But when you extract it alone, it is no longer mixed palm with oil, fish and other condiments which mean it is highly concentrated.

An herbal medicine extracted solely from its principal source is highly concentrated and should be measured in a way that it wouldn't be given out as an overdose.

We understand that you are working on a collaborative venture with Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories, what does it entail?
Yes. We have set up a joint committee between PaxHerbals and my ministry and the pharmacists in the Hospital Management Board and the Central Hospital to see how we can use some of their products for our patients. We are at an early stage in that collaboration.

For instance, when new orthodox medicines are put into the market, they are exhibited before doctors, pharmacists and nurses. It is called a Clinical Meeting. It affords the manufacturers the opportunity to address these health care providers on the constitution of their products; the dosage; the cost; the side effects and the complications.

The manufacturers are asked to provide statistics on how the medicines have been used in animals as well as in human beings and the results of such clinical trial. We also informed PAXHERBALS that this process must be complied with. Once that is done and we have the data, we can then go ahead and stock them. Our doctors and pharmacists can then go ahead and prescribe them.

One of the criticisms of Traditional Medicine Practice, (TMP), is the undue secrecy surrounding their practice and the formulation of their products or medications. But can they really be blamed when there is no government protection for their traditional protection rights?
The first thing TMP's should do is to subject themselves to scientific analysis which should not be interpreted as lost of patent. It is just a matter of subjecting it to analysis that will make it dependable and trustworthy.

The secrecy we talk about is even more prevalent among traditional medicine practitioners. They don't even allow their fellow traditional medicine practitioners to know what the other fellow is doing or how he treats a particular ailment. It would even be better if they avail themselves of potent medicinal solutions so that they can be subjected to scientific analysis.

If somebody comes out with an effective and well established herbal solution, then, his patent right will be protected, and he will be allowed to produce it in large quantities so that its distribution can go farther into other parts of the country to be used by other practitioners.

I want to stress that all these foreign drugs currently in circulation in Nigeria, Forever Living Products; Tianshi and GNLD are all herbal medicines from China, India and Korean communities. What has happened is that they have processed and packaged their own to meet internationally accepted standard.

How can traditional medicine be assimilated into the nation's health care delivery system?
The only way herbal medicine can be assimilated into the nation's health care delivery system is for herbal solutions and products to be subjected to scientific analysis. It must be clearly established that apart from being efficacious, the herbal medicines in question are not harmful. For instance, if the herbal product is an anti-biotic, then, it must be subjected to a culture of bacteria to see if the product kills the bacteria.

If the product lowers blood sugar or blood pressure, then, it must be tried in circumstances that it will be well established that it has lowered the blood sugar or blood pressure of the patient. It is when these have been done and it becomes full proof that there will be no adverse reactions before it can be assimilated into the nation's health care delivery system.

In many states in Nigeria, the traditional medicine board is often constituted and chaired by a politician that has no background in traditional or orthodox medicine. In Lagos State for instance, the Traditional Medicine Board, (TMB), is headed by an orthodox doctor who has over time demonstrated great interest in the growth and development of herbal medicine. What is the position of EdoState on this?
We are trying to do what Lagos State is doing because the promotion of herbal medicine is in the manifesto of the Action Congress, (AC). EdoState is also an Action Congress state so we will do our utmost best to ensure that the chairman and members of the Edo State Traditional Medicine Board are not constituted solely along political lines. We will make sure that expertise from traditional and orthodox medicines are injected into the Traditional Medicine Board.

Do you have a policy that regulates the practice of traditional medicine in EdoState?
Yes. The Association of Traditional Medicine Practitioners has a self-regulatory mechanism that they have put in place. They have a membership register of genuine practitioners and they have a way of identifying those who are not really practicing traditional medicine.

You must be worried about spurious claims by some traditional medicine practitioners that a particular herbal solution to which they lay some claim of originality can cure virtually all ailments or diseases. How can this ugly trend be checked?
I told them when they came to see me to seek permission to organize their fair that I would not grant that permission if they don't desist from making those spurious claims and unbridled advertisement. They agreed.

I was reliably informed by those who were there that there was considerably improvement. I was told that those spurious claims that one medicine can be used for the treatment of all kinds of ailment did not feature prominently during the fair. We will continue to dangle sanctions and deny them certain things if they don't comply with our guidelines and regulations.

What is the feature of traditional medicine in EdoState as well as in Nigeria?
The future is bright if they become less secretive and subject their products to scientific analysis.

Dr. Moses Momoh is the Edo State Commissioner for Health. He spoke with NATH OMAME, Jr. on the undue secrecy often manifested by traditional medicine practitioners; the spurious claims by some practitioners that a particular herbal solution can cure virtually all ailment as well as charting a new path for the Edo State Traditional Medicine Board.