African traditional medicine researchers make progress in herbs being accessible

African traditional medicine is inching closer to being accessible in different forms as researchers make progress in using indigenous medicines to fight diseases.

A consortium of researchers, government departments, institutions and universities have been working in laboratories alongside traditional healers to find evidence that African traditional medicines and herbs can treat diseases.

This is in line with the goals of the national department of health to have African traditional medicines registered with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra).

The consortium and researchers' objective is for African traditional medicines to be accessible at pharmacies and traditional herbalists with scientific evidence to back up their efficacy.

Ugobo, scientifically known as gunnera perpensa, is a plant used to cleanse a woman after giving birth or having a miscarriage and to increase fertility in women, said Prof Sithembiso Shabalala.

Shabalala is a traditional healer and lecturer at the Mhlabulangene School of African Medicine and served as a member of the former Traditional Health Practitioners Council established by the department of health.

He specialises in treating epilepsy through uhlunguhlungu, scientifically known as gymnanthemum corymbosum, by boiling the plant and drinking it. According to his findings, this can cure epilepsy.

“The purpose of the research is to prove it works. I have been practising for 37 years and it’s been working and we want to prove that by elaborating on the dosage required. I have seven patients who were diagnosed that they won’t be able to have children and now they have children while Western medicine said they will never be able to,” he told TimesLIVE.

He said while traditional healers refer patients to traditional herbalists for medicine, some products are available in Western pharmacies as supplements.

“Western pharmacies do offer African medicine once the African medicine has been properly packaged. Soaps and lotions are of different brands depending on the African healer who supplied the pharmacy with the herbs,” he said.

What is already on the market is Niselo, a ready-to-drink probiotic made of sorghum which is high in fibre and helps with gut health and digestion and boosts energy.

Researcher at Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT) research and development platform holder in pharmaceutical and biotechadvancement in Africa Prof David Katerere said the product is on sale and is manufactured at the university.

“It was funded by the Southern Africa Network for Biosciences and government. We are selling the product to university students and taxi drivers because the nutritious status of taxi drivers is not good as they sit all the time and often have gut health problems.”

The product is also sold at mines to boost mineworkers' energy, Katere said.

“It is good for their immune system so they don’t lose days at work. We are working with mine health programmes and with the communities because we donate the product through community projects,” he said.

The University of Free State has been making progress in their research and has reached the clinical trial stage for indigenous medicine for long-term Covid-19 and tuberculosis

Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa said what had started as research on African medicine for HIV turned into a solution to treat TB caused by Covid-19 infection. During their continuous research it was noticed people who had the coronavirus presented health problems and rising cases of TB, he said.

“We are not looking at multi-drug resistant TB but at normal TB. We have completed the clinical trial protocol and are looking at 500 patients. We got ethics approval from the South African Medical Association’s ethics committee and we are busy finalising our submissions to Sahpra for final approval,” he said.

Once approval is granted, a TB or long Covid-19 patient can take four 350ml capsules of 100% herbal medicine, two in the morning and two at night.

“We want people to be able to walk into a chemist and buy them or go to a hospital and it is prescribed to patients. That is where we need to go as a country. We want those products to be essential and doctors can also prescribe them,” Matsabisa said.