Nigerian natural health expert, DrBenjamin 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 physician.
He said more than 80 per cent of the population in both 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, 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.
The event, which held in Lagos, was well-attended.
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