A medical researcher at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Dr Aina Oluwagbemiga, has said that the institute was yet to see any herbal product that cures malaria in the country.
Aina, who is a Deputy Director of Research, at the Centre for Research in Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Biochemistry and Nutrition Department at NIMR, said the herbal products so far seen can only suppress the parasite but did not cure it as chloroquine does.
The deputy director with over 25 years of experience in malaria research, said most of the herbal preparations for the treatment of malaria in the country with various claims by their manufacturers have no proof of efficacy.
Aina disclosed this during an exclusive interview with PUNCH Healthwise.
He urged Nigerians to go for tests and be sure that they have malaria before going for treatment.
Malaria is a disease caused by a plasmodium parasite, transmitted by the bite of infected female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, with varying severity based on the species of the plasmodium.
The symptoms are chills, fever, and sweating, usually occurring a few weeks after being bitten and treatment includes antimalarial drugs.
The World Health Organisation says malaria is a preventable and treatable disease that has, however, continued to have devastating impacts on the health and livelihoods of people around the world.
The researcher noted that NIMR had tested over 50 herbal products for the treatment of malaria in the last two years and none was able to prove the claims of their manufacturers that they cure malaria.
