Matters Arising As Nigerians Seek Alternative To Orthodox Drugs
Herbal medicines, which constitute plant seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark or flowers, have been used since thousands of years for medicinal purposes in all societies around the globe.
Medicinal plants contain numerous biologically active compounds such as carbohydrates, proteins, enzymes, fats and oils, minerals, vitamins, terpenoids flavenoids, carotenoids, sterols, simple phenolic glycosides, tannins, saponins, polyphenols, to mention a few.
Major pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria produce drugs from plants for the treatment of common ailments which are reported on daily basis. Some of these raw materials used in producing drugs are imported into the country by these pharmaceutical companies. But recently, the pharmaceutical industry has increased the prices of drugs and as such majorities of Nigerians cannot afford orthodox drugs.
The managing director, BIOFEM Pharmaceuticals Nigeria Limited, Femi Soremekun, said that the reason behind the recent increment of drugs in Nigeria is because the industry is greatly affected by the devaluation of the Nigerian currency as against the dollar.
Soremekun said, “This is so because most of the raw materials used to produce drugs are imported. We need dollars to purchase these raw materials. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently worsened the situation by classifying the pharmaceutical industry as finished products, meaning we cannot have access to foreign exchange. Hence, we are forced to buying our dollars from the secondary market which is very expensive. That in return had led to the recent increment of the prices of drugs in the country.”
He also affirmed to the fact that the prices of drugs may still increase further due to the recent removal of fuel subsidy.
He however pleaded with the government to assist them by making local manufacturers of pharmaceutical products and importers of medicines to have access to foreign exchange to help ensure that they are able to continue to making drugs available to Nigerians at cheaper rates.
The increment in the prices of orthodox drugs has affected most Nigerians as those who spoke with LEADERSHIP said they prefer traditional health practitioners to visiting hospitals/pharmacy because herbal medicine is cheaper, easy to get and more effective compared to orthodox medicine. Others gave testimony to the fact that since they have been using herbal drugs, they have never fallen sick or seen the need to go to the hospital. Still others claimed that herbal medicine is a mixture of different plants that herbal doctors don’t know the amount the body would need and that could cause more problem that it is required to solve, unlike orthodox drugs, produced by experts who know the quantity that the human body would need. They however claimed that they cannot consume what they do not know how it was made.
Baba Ayomide, a 59 year old man said he cannot remember when last he fell sick. He said, “As a child, I have always been given herbal medicine by my parents. I can’t remember my parents taking me to the hospital for treatment. When I have stomach ache, they have a particular herbal medicine they give to me and like miracle, the pain would disappear immediately. I am now old. Herbal medicine is still working for me.”
Mr. Ben Okeke, a civil servant said he used to patronize orthodox drugs until recently he had malaria and he could not afford to buy malaria drugs because of the price. He said he decided to switch to herbal medicine and to his surprise; the malaria fever disappeared with one “shot”.
Chinwe Tochi, a banker, on her part, said, “It is so sick to see people drinking herbal medicine along the road, something they don’t know how it is being made, scientists have not confirmed if it is good for their health and can cure diseases they claimed can cure, coupled with the fact that they don’t carry the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) number, I really fear for their health.”
To avert that fear, the minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has endorsed the use of herbal medicines, since majority of Nigerians now patronise them and recommended that the drugs be produced in the country under the supervision of Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), and National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Adewole said, “We should invest in local products. We call them traditional medicine. But, I want to call them Nigerian medicines. I think NIPRD will partner with us to research with your products, making sure that local preparations are available for Nigeria.”
NAFDAC Director of Drug Evaluation and Research, Mrs. Titilope Owolabi, at the 13th African Traditional Medicine Day, organised by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Lagos, said traditional medicine has remained a main source of healthcare for about 80 per cent of the population in developing countries because of its cultural acceptability, adding that, in the last few years, there have been an upsurge of interest in the use of traditional medicine in developed countries.
Owolabi however stated that, even with its growing popularity, the primary concern was whether it was safe.
She said owing to the complexities of herbs in particular, it was essential that they were subjected to rigorous scientific evaluations like conventional medicines in order to guarantee their safety, quality and efficacy.
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