Transcript IDENTIFYING ISSUES AFFECTING THE CONSERVATION, CULTIVATION

IDENTIFYING ISSUES AFFECTING THE
CONSERVATION, CULTIVATION AND
PRODUCTION OF POTENT MEDICINAL
PLANTS SPECIES RELEVANT TO MALARIA
TREATMENT
PRESENTATION BY:
MARTHA NYAWERA NJAMA
PROMETRA KENYA
THE AFRICA HERBAL ANTI-MALARIAL
MEETING- ICRAF- MARCH 20-22, 2006.
CONTENTS
Introduction
TMPs Experience in Treating Malaria in Kenya
List of Commonly Used Plants in Treating Malaria
Sustainable Management and Use of Promising Medicinal
Plants
CONTENTS CONT’D
Important Factors Worth Considering for Improving the
State of Art
Administration of Plant Medicine – A Case Study
Recommendations
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Problem:
Malaria infection has been one of the most prevalent and
challenging problems in Kenya since time immemorial
and although enormous strides have been made in trying
to control it, malaria has remained the top killer disease
surpassing even new-comers like the dreaded HIV/AIDS
and ranging much higher than road accidents.
Initially, malaria had only been rampant in the low lying
and humid parts of the country, but now the disease has
spread further into the highland areas more especially
with the recent emergence of the highland strain in the
upper and colder parts of the country.
INTRODUCTION CONT’D
1.2 STATUS
Hospital records of a study carried out (1990-1997) in an
endemic area of western Kenya showed malaria epidemics
occurring almost annually, from May to July, with an annual
attack rate of 50%.
It also showed that 32% of the deaths in hospitals were
caused by malaria.
A further survey showed that only 8% had travelled to an
area with known malaria transmission 30 days before
diagnosis..
INTRODUCTION CONT’D
Altitude is thought to be a proxy for temperature, so the
actual limiting factor for malaria at high altitude is the
effect of the lower temperature on the parasite. Thus,
despite the effect of altitude on the ambient
temperature, microclimate factors (e.g heated houses )
can play an important role in facilitating malaria
transmission and epidemics at higher elevations.
The main facilitating factor in all this is the fact that
approximately 80% of Kenyan land is arid and semi-arid
(lowland) while on the other hand 20% is arable
(uplands).
INTRODUCTION CONT’D
1.3 Challenges:
In its efforts to bring the disease under control, the
government has basically relied on biomedical treatment
as the main source.
It has been found that while some of these anti-malarial
drugs such as quinine and other synthetic drugs work,
others have been found grossly wasting.
While this is the case, the use of herbal drugs to combat
malaria has been going on since the beginning of time,
with more and more people reportedly turning to herbal
medicine for quite some time now due to these three
main factors: first, the distance to the biomedical outlets
(hospitals and health centers), is simply unmanageable
in most rural Kenya.
CONT’D
Secondly, anti malaria drugs have become too costly and
therefore unaffordable to the common man.
Lastly, malaria is becoming more increasingly resistant to
the available biomedical drugs. This is not to mention
the fact that in most cases there could be a facility like a
health center but with no drugs.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE PRACTITIONERS EXPERIENCE
IN MANAGING MALARIA IN KENYA
Traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) have used a
wide range of plant based treatments (in various forms)
to combat malaria. Some have adopted Artimisia Annua
which is prevalent in Chiulu Hills and Kajulu Hills. Others
have also tried Artemisia afra (found in Kajiado district
and some part of Western Kenya) but whose efficacy has
not been tested. However, the main challege to the
TMPs remains the mode of preparation and application
whether in its raw form, boiled, powder, ash etc and in
what quantity.
List of Commonly Used Plants for Treating Malaria
Plant Name
Treatment
Part used &
Preparation
Known Users
Achyranthesaspera
Severe malaria
Pound roots
Shared by Maasai, Luos,
Kamba
Xamenia americana
Common malaria
Make root/bark
decoction
Luos, Maasai, Kamba, miji
kenda
Diospyros mespiliformis
Common malaria
Root/bark decoction
Shared across the board
Acacia mellifera
Common malaria
Root/bark decoction
Maasai, Kamba, Kalenjin
Warburgia ugandensis
Severe malaria
Root/bark decoction
Across the board
Rhamnus prenoidis
Common malaria
Root/bark decoction
Kalenjin, Kikuyu, Maasai
Aloe secundflora
Severe malaria
Leaf decoction
Maasai, Kikuyu, Kamba
Croton dichogamus
Common malaria
Root/bark decoction
Maasai, Kamba, coastal
tribes
Toddalia asiatica
Severe malaria
Root/bark decoction
Luo, Kalenjin, Maasai
3. SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT AND USE
OF PROMISING MEDICINAL PLANTS
3.1. In-Situ:
Plant based medicine can be managed in the wild while
taking care of issues like:
Developing methods of low impact harvesting/ taking leaves
and not interfering with plant.
Developing regulatory mechanisms and their enforcement to
ensure sustainability.
CONT’D
3.2 Planting:
Prometra Kenya is of the view that medicinal plants can be
sustainably managed by planting them in different areas
such as; Shambas, fences, boundaries, and backyards. The
regulatory mechanisms should be developed and enforced
to ensure sustainability.
4. IMPORTANT FACTORS WORTH CONSIDERING FOR
IMPROVING THE STATE OF ART
4.1 HARVESTING/STORAGE
Raw materials should be cut and dried in the shade to retain
potency then stored in a clean environment away from the
elements.
CONT’D
4.2. PROCESSING AND VALUE ADDING
Experience has shown that processing and value
addition of medicinal plant products from their
raw form has a direct impact on distribution and
marketing as the product becomes easier to
carry and more attractive to the customers/clients
at least after the first stage of processing. The
different modes to consider in this regard include
powder, ash, infusions, decoctions, steam,
distillation, cream, syrup, gels and solidifying by
evaporation, among others.
CONT’D
4.3 Marketing:
Traditional medicine practitioners believe that medicinal
plants from certain areas are more potent than
others, thus making movement of plant materials
quite dynamic in Kenya today. In addition, a class of
business people (vendors) is emerging whose main
business is to distribute medicinal plants from the
point of growth to the consumer. However, in both
cases, there is need to sound a caution as:
(i) Little has been done or is now being done to validate
the chemical ingredients associated with the
medicinal potency of the plants thus distributed.
CONT’D
(ii) When vendors are relied upon, those who are not
knowledgeable in plant identification (vernacular
plant names are generic based on the colour, taste,
leaves or sap, will be confused and can even cause
harm to the patient. Hence people involved in the
use of plants from different areas need training in
plant identification (plant taxonomy). There is also
need for regulatory mechanism to ensure ethics and
accountability
CONT’D
4.4 ADMINISTRATION OF PLANT MEDICINE:
THEVESTIA PERUVIANA - (CASE STUDY)
It happened four years ago in a prominent community in
Kenya. A young family of four, a son, a daughter, a mother
and a father had retired to their kitchen for an evening meal
after a hard day’s work. After a simple dinner of Ugali,
sukuma wiki and dried fish, the parents reached for a pot of
a plant root decoction that had been prepared as the meal
was cooking. The parents had collected roots of this plant
from an itinerant plant medicinal vendor from a nearby
market a day earlier
CASE STUDY CONT’D
The decoction was meant to clear cases of Typhoid and
amoebial infection, that had afflicted this family for some
time. The father who had taken a mental record of the
dosages for this treatment, pulled a mug from a carton
stored in an old soot coated pottery suspended by a rope
from the roof, and passed it to his wife to rinse. The father
carefully poured out the decoction into the mug, about one
eighth from the bottom for each child. The couple left for
their living house beaming with confidence, convinced that
they had fixed the trouble of some bugs that had plagued
their children for many days.
CASE STUDY CONT’D
Settled in their living house, the couple proceeded to self
administer the drug to themselves. The wife filled about
three quarters of the mug with the decoction and drowned
this before dispensing about the same amount of the
decoction to her husband who drunk the same. Looking
pleased with themselves once again, the couple retired for
the night.
While the two children seemed to have enjoyed a peaceful
night, the parents were less fortunate. They started having
tummy cramps soon after midnight that appeared to
increase in severity every minute. With both down and
nursing ravening pain, it took them time even to alert the
children. It was about 3.30 am to 4.00 am that the man
pulled himself wreathing with pain and
CASE STUDY CONT’D
and reached the kitchen where the kids were sleeping. On
hearing the news the kids dashed to their uncle’s village
about a stone throw away. The uncle and his wife arrived
at the fateful house at about 5.00 am, only to find the wife
in a coma. They tried to administer some simple first aid,
but it was too late. The poor lady passed away about half
an hour later. The husband collapsed an hour later as they
were struggling to reach a nearby dispensary.
The fateful plant was later identified as Thevestia peruviana
(Cha mama in Luo)
ADMINISTRATION cont’d
There is need for standardization and training of TMPs in
indigenous technology to muster scientific rationalization for
example: information on phytochemistry to provide a basis
for decision making. It is also important to note that all
plants are toxic, all that matters is the amount used.
RECOMMENDATIONS
With adequate research on the traditional medicinal plants
which our people have used for ages to treat diverse types
of diseases, malaria included, there is hope for this making
an enomous contribution into the authorized drugs on the
market.
Artemisia Annua is a good drug but it is from China. There
is therefore need to diversify medicinal plant sources for
the treatment and control of malaria with a particular focus
on those that grow here, are accessible and easy to
cultivate.
RECOM CONT’D
3. There is need for African governments to develop and
enforce mechanisms to regulate harvesting, ethics and
accountability in sustainable managing the plant based
medicines
4.There is need for standardization and training of
traditional medicine practitioners especially in
phytochemistry
THANK YOU FOR READING
Mrs. Martha Nyawera Njama
PROMETRA KENYA
P.O. Box 50797
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254-721-549006
Tel: +254-20-788553
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]