As economic hardship bites harder, more and more Nigerians are opting for herbal or traditional solutions for their health challenges as they can no longer afford to pay medical bills, writes Juliet Jacob Ochenje.
”At the moment, because of how expensive the white medicine is, especially the malaria medicine that used to be N800 or N1000 but now the price has skyrocketed, I go for the herbal mixtures because with N200 or N500, I can treat malaria and it works for me, even though it has some side effects.”
These were the words of Mr. Israel White, a young man who was justifying his decision to stop going to any hospital or health care facility for treatment when he is sick.
He told African Health Report (AHR) that ”complete treatment” for typhoid at a hospital means that money has to be spent paying for hospital card, consultation fees and medicines, which ”he can’t really afford.”
For him, herbal medicine is the alternative for him and he is very adamant that it works better than what any doctor in a hospital could ever prescribe for him.
“I drink herbal mixture because is medically good for the body, it helps to cure medical issues like purging and waist pain and some of the herbal mixtures helps to cure malaria and typhoid and so many illnesses, and I believe some of our herbal medicine are more better than the white medicine , because we are blessed with herbs and plants that are rich and can cure so many diseases and so many illnesses that many people don’t know about.”
”The economical aspects (sic) of the country, you could be down with typhoid and you can take herbal mixture of N200 or N500 and you will be alright but if want to get a complete treatment for typhoid at a hospital, you will need to pay for, hospital card and pay for consultant fee, and drips and drugs you can’t really afford.”
High cost of living causing more acceptance of alternative medicine
White is not alone. Recent economic hardship occasioned by policies introduced by President Bola Tinubu, including the removal of fuel subsidies and devaluation of the naira, have sent more Nigerians into poverty. More people have sunk deeper into the ocean of lack as they watch their purchasing power lose more strength with every passing day.
Due to this, many families have entered survival mode; spreading lean resources across priority items only. Categorising what counts as important items varies across different households ranging from food, rent and education.
However, one item that many agree stays at the top of the list is health. In fact, it is said that health is wealth and a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. Sadly, the health of Nigerians is being forced to the background as the struggle to put food on the table gets tougher with biting economic challenges in the country.
Nigeria’s health system has been in comatose for decades and continues to sink by the day as a result of poor funding and management lapses. The 2023 budget signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari allocated N1.07 trillion for the Nigerian health sector, which amounts to about 4.93 percent of the N21.83 trillion, according to Dataphyte.
This is grossly inadequate for providing health solutions to the citizens. The skyrocketing exchange rates means higher prices of drugs and majority of Nigerians who pay out of pocket to meet their health needs can no longer fund this important expense as resources continue to dwindle. Therefore, more of them are now turning to alternative medicine to seek solutions for their health challenges.
Mr. Oluwatayo Kayode is another Nigerian who has embraced herbal medicine because it is more friendly to his pocket.
“At the moment, because of how expensive the ‘white medicine’ is, especially the malaria medicine that used to be N800 or N1000 but now the price has skyrocketed, I go for the herbal mixtures because with N200 or N500, I can treat malaria and it works for me, even though it has some side effects,” he told AHR.
Oshaprapra as she is popularly called, is a herbal medicine seller who is well loved and respected by her customers. Sitting in her stall in Dutse, Abuja, she boasts of high patronage to AHR, saying people come for her mixtures on a daily basis.
”I get customers daily that I can’t keep count of,” she said, adding that ”herbal medicine works for body pain, typhoid, Malaria, “jedijedi” (high sugar) and other sickness of the body in general.”
Oshaprapra said she uses “egbesi” to prepare typhoid and malaria concoction, tea leaves for sugar (jedijedi) reduction in the body, while for waist pain/typhoid/stomach ache, she burns it and mixes with ayeri.
”For head ache, we put aweti (back of coconut) and we cook leave of orange, pineapple, guava together to treat cold,” she continued.
Potent, yet dangerous
While the potency of herbal medicines is undisputed, indiscriminate, irresponsible or non-regulated use of several herbal medicines put the health of their users at risk of toxicity. Many of these medicines have not undergone clinical evaluation to ascertain their safety and practices in the trade remain highly unregulated.
A study published in Tropical Doctor journal linked traditional herbal preparations with acute renal failure in Nigeria.
According to researchers from Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital; University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan; and the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) Yaba, Lagos, acute failure in fifty-three cases of acute renal failure (ARF) were linked to traditional herbal preparations over a 10-year period. They had taken the preparations to treat fever, abdominal upset and for other reasons.
“The few identified plant materials included leaves and bark of the mango (Mangifera indica), shoots of cashew leaves (Anacardium occidentale), paw-paw leaves (Carica papaya), lime-leaves (Citrus aurantifolia), Solanium erianthum, Morinda lucida leaves and bark, neem/dogonyaro tree (Azadirachta indica) leaves. The major presenting features were oliguria or anuria, jaundice and anaemia.
“Forty-five patients received dialysis and three deaths were recorded. These cases of ARF could have been prevented by proper education and awareness,” it added.
Another research by the National Library of Science on herbal medicine use among urban residents in Lagos, Nigeria, noted that adverse reactions were reported when used alone or concurrently with conventional or orthodox medicines.
It added that despite the international diversity and adoption of TM (traditional medicine or herbal medicine) in different cultures and regions, there is no parallel advance in international standards and methods for its evaluation. The research further found that national policies and regulations were also lacking for TM in many countries and where these are available; it is difficult to fully regulate TM products, practices and practitioners due to variations in definitions and categorisations of TM therapies.’
Speaking on the matter, Dr. Osas Ikhu-Omoregbe, a medical doctor at Maitama District Hospital, identified poverty and lack of ethics as some of the reasons people opt for native herbal remedies.
Noting that the procedures surrounding the production and administration of herbal medicines has never been standardised, he said, ”You cannot tell me that you’re using agbo (herbal medicine) like mango and guava leaves to treat malaria.
”Malaria is an orthodox name, an English name and again, conventional Orthodox medication usually has prescription order on how the medicine should be taken, the anticipated side effects and what to do when you have all those side effects. This is unlike native herbal remedy which comes in packages that does not have leaflets to be followed accordingly.”
