A NATURAL health expert, Dr Benjamin
Amodu, is exploring phyto-medicine to boost the treatment of malaria.
According to him, his interest in
research and development of his polyherbal formulation for the treatment of
malaria, called SAABMAL, is based on the fact that many Africans use
alternative medicine without informing their
physicians.
He said more than 80 per cent
of the population in the underdeveloped and the developed countries depend on
herbal medicines.
He said: “The major problem with
herbal medicines in Africa still remains their poor and sometimes unhealthy
presentation, as well as scientific data supporting folkloric use.
Standardisation of herbal medicines, therefore, should be a major interest for
researchers, especially in Africa.
“A major aspect of this
standardisation process includes the assessment of the efficacy and safety of
such herbal medicines, as well as development of suitable dosage forms and
stability,” he said.
Explaining the formulation,
Amodu said studies were conducted on SAABMALA, “including a presentation
on the standardisation of SAABMALA at the Fourth African Network for Drugs and
Diagnostic Innovation (ANDI)/World Health Organisation (WHO) stakeholders’meeting
and donors conference at a United Nations Conference Centre, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
“In the study, SAABMALA, this is
already a trademark and has been evaluated for its activity against chloroquine
sensitive Plasmodium berghei (NK 65 strain) in their different experimental
animal models for vivo antimalarial activities (prophylactic, suppressive and
curative) in mice.
“Chloroquine and pyriimethanine were
used as standard drugs for comparison. The formulation showed significant
(P<0.01) antimalarial activities that were either comparable or better than
those of the standard drugs. The result obtained established the efficiency of
this polyherbal formulation against malaria infection and suggests that, with
proper scientific validation and standardisation, herbal medicines can be
developed for integration into our health care delivery systems in Africa.”
On the formulation of the polyherbal
antimalarial and malaria vaccine, Amodu said the components are from Nigeria
(precisely from Igala). “The constituents of the product are under scientific
analysis at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development,
Idu, Abuja. The poly-product contains seven different plants Allium sativum,
Cymbopogon citrates, Vernonia amygdalina, Saccharun officinarum, Amaranthus
caudatus, Aloe barbadensis and Sesamum indicatum,” he added.
Malaria is not the only area of
interest of this pharmacist-turned traditional-phytotherapist, but diverse
health conditions, and all the ingredients are well-researched and clinically
certified by the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and development
(NIPRID). He is operating under the name Halamin Herbal Products (a subsidiary
of Halamin Chemicals Nigeria Limited).
So far, honour has come the way of
this industrial pharmacist, who is a Director of Procurement at the Ministry of
Defence. For using herbal leaves, spices and roots to provide cure for diseases
and ailments, the African Leadership Magazine conferred on him a Lifetime
Achievement Award in Lagos.
The Nation
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please do not hesitate to leave your opinion in the comment section below.