Special Report
A Cure in the Garden
" No one should say with finality that there is no cure for a particular ailment, because for every disease there is a cure in the garden"
----Professor Janet Modupe Makinde
Department of Pharmacology,
University of Ibadan,
Evidently, the trend is changing and changing with the rapidity of a sahel fire. About ten years ago, your mind wonders through the thick foliage of some exotic flowers, in some well-tendered gardens, supervised by some over pampered horticulturalists who trudge languidly with bulging tummies, when conversations about gardens crop up.
But now, the story is remarkably different. Courtyard gardens are mushrooming into herbal gardens while botanical farms are snowballing into acres and even hectares of herbal farms.
But why is this so? The emerging trend is predicated on the increasing demand and apparent acceptability of herbal medicine by many people, who in the past distanced themselves from herbal medicine because of the rock-bottom reputation it had at that time.
Scientists, researchers and the octopodial multinational pharmaceutical oligopolies have graciously climbed down from the high-rise of their glass houses to admit that a frightening population of the world, who for decades had been administered with the same particular brand of drugs, although, periodically re-branded, repackaged and re-launched with reverberating propaganda are beginning to slow down.
Simply, most orthodox ethical pharmaceuticals are no longer as efficacious as they were in the past. So, man, ever adventurous, took a deep look into herbs and herbal medicines, which have largely been acclaimed to be free from worrisome side effects.
In Asia and Africa which have a high concentration of the world poor, the population density is beginning to shoot through the roof, while poverty is spreading and deepening making orthodox medicines unaffordable.
{quotes}So, re-branding, repackaging and well oiled propaganda became meaningless as they began to make a detour and pick their ways into their gardens in search of long abandoned herbal medicines.{/quotes}
Necessity became a fad; soon it metamorphosed into an infectious trend; and now, the slow walk into the garden for malaria herbs have revved up to a global dash into villages, farms and dense forest vegetations, in search of herbs, roots, juices, gums and many other ingredients of plant origin.
In Nigeria, the practice of herbal medicine which was severely consigned to hovels and hamlets for those derogatorily referred to as native doctors took a new turn as scientists, doctors, pharmacists, researchers and people from other professional inclinations made a foray into herbal research.
Curiously, a catholic priest and monk at the St. Benedicts Monastery, Ewu, Esan, in Edo state of Nigeria inched his way into the vortex of herbal research and medicine in a wooden shank which later became his consultation room of the monastery.
As the efficacy of his herbal medicine gained currency, words about the quiet activities of the herbal monk in the quietude of his spiritual world began to filter into adjoining hamlets, villages and towns. Unknown to him, a medical revolution far bigger than his inextinguishable desire for knowledge; far bigger than his innate and religious proclivity to give succour to people through prayers and counseling, spread forth its wings like an eagle and began to hover, hover and it is still hovering, covering mileages within and outside Nigeria.
Fr. Anselm Adodo, OSB, an unassuming monk, herbal researcher and medicine practitioner led his brother monks to establish the PAX HERBAL Clinic and Research Laboratories in 1996 as a Catholic Centre for the promotion, development cultivation and proper utilization of African medicine. He, indeed, is the Director of the centre equipped with modern equipment and scientific laboratories that many tertiary institutions and research bodies in Africa are still craving to acquire.
The centre is expected among others to serve as a centre for genuine Africa holistic healing that blends the physical and the spiritual aspects of the human person; research centre for scientific identification, conservation, utilization and development of African medicinal plants.
To become a model comprehensive health care centre where the western/orthodox and traditional systems are creatively blended; to be a truly indigenous centre of healing that is based on genuine Africa-Christian Spirituality; dissemination of knowledge of the health benefits of African medicinal plants through publications, seminars and workshops.
The promoters of PAX HERBALS being Catholic monks appreciated the disdain with which Christians regarded herbal medicine and strategically, embarked on an energetic purposeful and dynamic campaign in correcting the negative attitude of African Christians towards African medicine as well as giving a sense of pride to its practice.
Presently, the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has verified and certified 15 medicines prepared by PAX HERBAL. Ten new drugs have just been sent for verification and certification.
Every year, PAX HERBAL organizes a congress for its providers who market the products. But there is remarkable distinction because of the nature of the product. So, it isn't a buyer-seller market.{mospagebreak}
All PAX HERBAL providers which must have gone through an appreciable measure of formal education are trained by PAX HERBAL on symptoms of different ailments; understanding the medical history of the buyer/patient; some element of human psychology; the unavoidable need for patience in dealing with clients, the natural content of the drugs and their functions.
It is common place about three herbal medicines for an ailment quickly explaining why you should go along with their advice. So far, various results from the field indicate a high success rate.
To keep abreast of emerging trends and new herbal products, PAX HERBAL organized a yearly congress for all its health providers across Nigeria. At the congress, more of an interactive talk shop, providers indicate their success rate, strange ailments for which herbal and orthodox medicine are yet to provide a cure.
Fr. Friday Michael Sasa, Rector of SS Peter and Paul, Major Seminary at Ibadan, who hosted PAX and its providers to this year congress between July 25-28, was categorical in his assertion that herbal medicine has come to take its respectable place in the medical world because of its originality and wonderful rate of its efficacy.
Dr. Olukemi Odukoya, a lecturer in the faculty of pharmacy, delivered an address on the Trends in Herbal Medicine Practice and Future Prospects. She posited that either because of cultural divergences and deep-seated religious beliefs, people "believed that Traditional Medicine ™, practitioner, was a rogue and a deceiver who prevented many patients who would other wise be
treated effectively with modern drugs and surgery from reaching government and mission hospitals".
"this believe this encourages witchcraft and wizardry which are hindrances and shambling blocks in the way of Christian missionary work. Thanks to Fr. Adodo and his formidable and dedicated team, as Christians, they have not just created awareness but also made a great impact on the use of
herbs", she remarked.
Over 300 PAX providers from Abuja, Akure, Benin, Calabar, Jos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Makurdi, Minna, Lagos, Owerri, and Ado-Ekiti zones who attended the 3-day congress of lectures; interactive sessions with researchers and practitioners as well as exhibitions of modern herbal medicines and ethical practices were thrilled when Dr. Odukoya informed them of the growing demand for natural medicine.
"About 80 percent of the people in the developing world", she stressed "depend on traditional medicine for primary health care". "And this," she further emphasized is due to the fact that orthodox medicine is mostly out of the reach in both physical terms as ho
spitals are far away from the rural place and in financial terms, the poverty level is high".
Fr. Sasa regaled the audience with his experience in San Francisco in the United States. Bumps in form of lumps started growing under his jaw. He went for a test and the surgeon in the US recommended he under goes an operation. Troubled, Fr. Sasa phoned a Rev. Sister at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, (UBTH), who counseled him against surgery.
The Sister reasoned that since Fr. Sasa would be coming to Nigeria in another two months, he could wait to have another round of medical test. She even hinted Fr. Sasa that a traditional Alternative Medicine, (TAM), may just be the solution Fr. Sasa really needed.
Fr. Sasa went to UBTH upon his arrival from the US. A test was carried out by surgeons at UBTH. Their result tallied with that from the US. But Sister also a medic was unrelenting and she convinced her colleagues to encourage Fr. Sasa to seek cure through alternative medicine.
Sister had a place in mind. When they got there, they ere informed the old man who had the traditional medicine died over six months ago. Members of the late traditional medicine practitioner{mospagebreak} were kind enough to direct him to another old practitioner.
This time, they were lucky, but the old man told them he was too old to go to farm to dig out the roots. He assured them he would ask his children to go and fetch the roots and herbs and asked
them to come back in two days. They did. And the old man gave Fr. Sasa eight wraps of
a substance that looked like Eko or Agidi and directed him to prepare them into soup form and take one at a time.
Now … hold your breadth! Upon completion of the fifth wrap preferably lump of agidi-like African herbal preparation, Fr. Sasa testified that all the eternal lumps under his jaws and neck disappeared. He was cured at Kabba in Kwara state. He cannot tell whether the old gifted man is still alive or dead. More worrisome, is whether any of his children whom he has provided western education bothered to learn the herbal preparation.
Upon his return to the United States to continue his studies, friends, colleagues and his surgeon were truly happy with his wonderful recovery without surgery. Of course, the surgeon
was curious when Fr. Sasa narrated his experience. Then, the surgeon moved closer to Fr. Sasa, lowered his voice and asked him, more out of humility than in curiosity: "Can I have the chemical combination?"
Trust Fr. Sasa, he took an opportunity that was too rare to contemplate had presented itself, and he took it with some panacher: "I wasn't there when it was prepared. In any case, God has chosen to avail some families with such gifts in Nigeria and this is just one of them". The surgeon's jaws dropped while Fr. Sasa chuckled, filled with an inner satisfaction and true African pride.
Professor Ayo Adekunle, a consultant at the University of Ibadan, who shelved all other engagements to be present at the occasion, was confident that no amount of propaganda can thwart the boundless acceptability that herbal medicine is currently receiving. His wife, Lola, who also holds a PhD in pharmacology also presented a paper, on the Acceptability of Complimentary a
nd Alternative Medicine, a case study of a joint work in which her husband also participated.
Professor Janet Modupe Makinde, celebrated the potency of African herbal medicine in her refreshing talk on the originality of African Herbal Medicine when she enthused: "Nobody can say there is no cure in the garden, because for every disease there is a cure in the garden".
She sprinkled her talk with results of her researches with herbs that are easily sourced and the positive outcome of their application. "The Lord", Prof. Makinde emphasized, "knows what we need and he put them all around us: bitter leaf, lemon grass, among others".
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Dora Akunyili, (OFR), was repre
sented at the event by three senior officials of the agency, led by Pharmacist Macdonald Garuba. Akunyili in her goodwill message averred that Herbal products are subjected to clinical trial to determine their safety and efficacy in human subjects.
Prof Akunyili further emphasized that "Clinical trials conducted on human participants are designed and conducted according to sound scientific and ethical standards with the frame work of good clinical practice," adding that "clinical trial is a basic pre-requisite for registration of herbal products with therapeutic claims and they are registered for a period of five (5) years.
Father of the day, Bishop Albert Fashina, the Bishop of Ijebu-Ode diocese, prayed that "God who is the giver of life should give it abundantly, fortify, enlighten and protect all those involved in the PAX HERBAL revolution aimed at bringing health nearer to the people".{mospagebreak}
Interviews
HERBAL MEDICINE IS FOR EVERYONE WHO NEEDS A CURE
Sister Glory Agbor (HHCJ)
On challenges?
Most of those who come to you for the first time could be very saucy, so, you need to be patient some may just decide to be difficult because your product is herbal medicine. All the same patience is imperative because those who come to you for enquiries need help.
The number of people coming for enquiries has increased tremendously. Many of those who come say they are looking for the Sister who is PAX provider. But they always express surprise when I emerge.
They ask me: is Sister in charge of PAX not around? When I affirm my presence they chuckle because they were looking for someone bigger in size. It shows clearly that PAX products are efficacious.
What are the opportunities?
I have personally come to realize the importance of herbs. And I strongly believe that most of those who have had cause to take PAX products for whatever ailments now appreciate the gift of nature in herbs.
There appears to be a reawakening in the villages. They are coming in large numbers from neighbouring villages in Ikom to buy PAX products. Very many orthodox medical practitioners in Ikom patronize PAX HERBAL drugs. What this emerging trend demonstrates is that herbal medicine is for everyone who needs a cure.
IT'S HEART-WARMING PUTTING SMILES IN PEOPLES' LIFE
Mrs. Bekky Ezeumeh, (Lagos)
Teacher- 08023352539
On the challenges of being a PAX provider?.
I was introduced as an apostolate two years ago, by the late Rev. Godwin Okweshili, OP, a Dominican who was murdered by armed robbers at St. Dominic, Yaba, in Lagos.
We have our depot manager in Yaba but the demand for PAX HERBAL products is more than what we get. We are health providers and it is not proper for you to tell your patients and clients that the drug you prescribed for him or her has not been available for two months.
On opportunities available to a provider?.
It's business, yes. But the profit is minimal, so money isn't the motivation. Contributing positively to somebody's physical well-being is heart warning.
We provide drugs for couples afflicted with the problems of infertility. We are further encouraged by positive testimonies.
Problems currently being encountered?.
We are not getting enough support from the Rev. Fathers. We need spaces for consultation and dispensing of drugs in our major parishes. Patients need privacy so they can unburden their mind. Parish Priests should please assist us with consulting rooms and we shall remain truly grateful.
One major problem in Lagos is one Sales Depot in Lagos is not enough. I operate from St. Dominic, Yaba, but I have patients as far as Lekki; Victoria Island and Ekpe. The solution is that we need another Sales Depot in Lagos so that we can deepen and strengthen our network.
PEOPLE ASK SO MUCH QUESTIONS IN THE PAST
Ambrose C. Okafor (Ikare-Akoko. Ondo State)
Businessman-08054584468
On the challenges encountered on the beat?
I joined PAX in 2002 when the packaging wasn't as good as it is now. Then, it was huge problem convincing people to try herbal products for their ailments.
People ask so many questions then. How were the drugs prepared? Do they work? Any measurement for dosage?
On hearing that the drugs were prepared in a monastery, they take a second look. To them, it was like an adventure; let's try these monastery herbal medicine and see. Behold! They try the products and joy cometh thereafter. The same people come back to you and greet you with a smile and deep inside you is a sense of joy that you are dispensing medication that is visibly active. Mobility to take drugs to the remote areas is a handicap.
What are the opportunities?
It's being an opportunity to personally learn the good sides of African culture and practices. We are trained as PAX providers. Anytime a parish priest gives us the opportunity to address parishioners we explain to them that herbal medicine is not unchristian. Herbal medicine represented the health clinic of our fore fathers.
I have discovered in the line of duty that the health problem some people have been grappling with years is caused by bad eating habit, or eating something that is bad to their constitution. There is a lot to learn from the abundance of nature.
BEING A PROVIDER REQUIRES PATIENCE AND LOVE
Mrs. C.E Joe-Nwansha, (Abuja Zone)
Nurse-08023405237
On the challenges being encountered as a PAX health provider?,
In Abuja where I operate, the major problem is the distance between residential areas. The demolition has also displaced a lot of people, forcing some of my patients to relocate to other satellite towns making personal contacts a lot difficult.
Just imagine me doing my rounds from Kubwa, to Nyanyan, Gwaripa, Anagada, Tungamajie, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Lugbe and even Karo'
We have one depot in Wuse which is clearly inadequate. The population of Abuja is increasing rapidly. Our current drugs is far, far less than what we really need.
My humble suggestion would be that another sales depot should be considered for Abuja, preferably in Kubwa. And they should also increase our supplies of herbal medicines
Do you have problems convincing people on the efficacy of your products?
Conviction is another worrisome aspect. Two years ago, the mention of herbal drugs was like hey, you have come with poison. But all that has changed. Most Parish Priests have also been very helpful. They allow us to have post communion talk with parishioners. After which we arrange days for consultations and follow up. This business requires patience, love and understanding. Being patient and showing your clients love actually gives them a psychological booster.
What are the opportunities available?
The opportunity to put a smile on someone's face and, the opportunity to work together with Nigerians of different persuasions. We have PAX HERBAL health providers who are Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, as well as Moslems. People take us more seriously when they learn the drugs are prepared by monks in a monastery.
I THOUGHT COLOUR THERAPY WAS MAGIC
Sister Mary Esther Nwanfor (EHJ)
St. Leo's Catholic Church, Ikeja Lagos
What are the on challenges?
Initially, it was really difficult getting people to appreciate herbal drugs as the gift of nature. Some people will ask you, do you have a herbal drug for hypertension: you tell them yes, even go and bring one for them to see. But they smile, turn and walk away.
But today, the demand for hypertension drugs is phenomenal. Some buy three at once to make sure they have a ready supply. Our Fibroid Solution is also a very fast product. The demand is so high it is far more than supplies.
As a Rev. Sister, I saw the Colour Therapy Phenomenon as cheer magic and just switched off my mind on that aspect. I ask myself, why should people lives be influenced by colours?
There came a woman who claimed her baby always had rashes when she dresses the baby in any colours, or any cloth that has yellow. She also complained that the baby can't at night and would even refuse to eat.
The question I asked myself was: what was making the baby restless at night? Then I asked the woman, what are the colours of your curtains? She replied that they were close to be yellowish.
My next question was: what colour of bed sheets does she use? Her response: mainly yellow. Just imagine me who regard colour therapy as magic. I asked her to be patient and quickly read through Fr. Anselm's colour therapy and asked her to remove anything yellow from the baby's sight because the baby may probably be allergic to yellow as a colour. I then recommend the Blue Colour Therapy and that, indeed, was the missing link.
To my amazement, the woman came back two weeks later to confirm rashes and sleeplessness have all disappeared. The lesson: don't be too hasty in condemning what you do not understand.
On opportunities
I have realized that it is easier for us as Rev. Sisters to convince people on the efficacy of herbal medicines. But our supplies are not enough. We need more supplies of malaria and typhoid especially during the season.
What is the demand?
Changing of packaging affects buyers demand. There is usually a slight drop in demand of certain products whose packaging changed without notification: like from liquid to capsule.
We also receive calls from clients asking us to explain why PAX HERBAL Tea cures all of four ailments: Insomnia; hypertension; rheumatism and malaria fever.
GOVT SHOULD ESTABLISH LABORATORIES
TO ASSIST NATURAL MEDICINE PRACTITIONERS
Fr. Sasa
Fr. Friday Michael Sasa is the Rector, SS Peters and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan. He hosted the 2007 PAX HERBAL Congress and spoke to THE HERBAL DORTOR on the need for TM and orthodox medicine practitioners to have evolve a synergy with input from the government.
What particular experience encouraged your interest in the efficacy of herbal medicine.?
I had these Lagos around my neck, just three, an for me they well painful. I was in the United States them. Some test were carried out and surgery was ultimately recommended. But I thank God, somebody directed me to nature cure. Even though, some doctors I knew closely were insisting they cut and re-arrange.
In what form was the nature cure?
I located the nature cure for my discomfort at Kaba in Kwara State. The patient and delight old man, marched the roots and other herbs into small balls, like bounce or puff puff which were made into a form and I took them with eba.
He gave me eight but lumps receded while I was on the fifth one. The nagging pain equally disappeared with the lumps. Mind you, there was no after effects and since then, the lumps have disappeared. So, why would someone come and tell me that natural medicine is crude or dangerous?
But the orthodox medical practitioners regard nature cure as practiced by Traditional Alternative Medicine, (TMA), practitioners as crude native science that cannot be verified.?
Please let no one deceive you. I personally don't give in to such cheap talk. I have read and, attending reputable universities and wee-heeled educational institutions in quest of knowledge in different countries of the world.
I tell you bluntly, what we have to regard as the attitude of orthodox medical practitioners against natural medicine is cheer arrogance. So many of us have come to realize and I have also noticed an appreciable shift from their erstwhile dogmatic position.
Some of us are confident a large number of orthodox and Traditional Medicine ™, practitioners would soon begin to work together for the common good of the mankind.
What about these argument that natural medicine borders on fetish practice.?
Oh, my God! You have a stomach discomfort. You step into the garden, pluck some bitter leaf, squeeze them into a glass of water and drink it.
In twenty minutes, your stomach ache disappears. Now, tell me, in all sincerity, what is fetish there? The argument that nature cure is fetish is borne out of ignorance and some mercantile considerations.
Your advise to TM practitioners?
They should be vigilant and watch out for fakes. Some people evidently due to unemployment go into the practice of natural medicine and just prepare concoctions for people to consume, just to make fast money.
I advise practitioners of herbal medicine to watch out for quacks in their midst and flush them out. To have an effective and formidable voice, they need to form themselves into an association so that a vanguard for the advancement of natural medicine would be up and running toward a deep-seated antagonistic propaganda from the orthodox camp.
How can government contribute to the growth of herbal medicine?
Government should assist in establishing laboratories here and there to assist herbal practitioners just like Fr. Adodo has already done.