African Traditional Medicine Day is being commemorated on Wednesday and professor Motlalepula Matsabisa suggests that African medicines may be the answer to global health emergencies.
The pharmacology professor at the University of Free State said the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the advantages of African traditional medicines and have since been under research as a treatment for the disease.
“This year’s theme on the role of African traditional medicines in universal health coverage is most befitting, as we know that medicines from natural products are affordable, accessible, have almost no side effects, and are proven enough because they have been advised for many generations, and they have been quite efficient in treating 90% of all currently known human diseases,” said Matsabisa.
“The annual celebration, therefore, aims to gain more support for the continent to fast-track the research and development, as well as the local manufacturing of well-known researched African traditional medicine products.”
Matsabisa added that they have been approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority to use Phela, a plant-based product on mild- to moderate-symptom Covid-19 patients to prove that the product is effective against Covid-19 and be registered.
He said Phela had always been known to heal muyanga (a traditional disease) but has been recently confirmed to be effective in boosting a compromised immune system.
“The development of Phela has taken place under stringent scientific scrutiny in both pre-clinical and clinical research.
“The efficacy of Phela as both an immune modulator and an anti-SARS-COV-2 treatment has been proven in in vitro and in vivo studies with reproducible results conducted by three independent research institutions and a science council.”
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