Tag: african herbal

New Developments in Clinical Trial of African herbal medicine for Malaria
The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) and Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories (Paxherbals), are into a partnership that will enhance the scientific practice of herbal medicine in Nigeria. The two parties, through a memorandum of understanding, agreed to collaborate in the establishment of frame work for increased cooperation in clinical trials and public health research collaboration in the areas of Natural products, Natural Medicine, Traditional Medicine Knowledge and Practice, Intellectual Property Rights, Science and Engineering, Agricultural Practices and any other related field of work approved by the Parties’ respective authorities. Similar partnership to advance the cause of natural medicine has been agreed on with the malaria research unit at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Focusing of Malaria

As a matter of priority, the two parties decided to collaborate in the design of a framework for clinical trial of PAX anti-malarial herbal medicine called Malatreat. The decision was based on the fact that malaria still constitutes a major health challenge in Africa. It is a shame indeed that despite the fact that Nigeria is blessed with many scientists, researchers and herbal experts, they are yet to develop a standardized herbal medicine for malaria. This is a challenge which NNMDA, the University of Port-Harcourt and PAXHERBAL seek to confront.

Although herbal medicines offer a wide diversity of medicinal properties and have proven to be a boom for therapies, its clinical evidence mapping is largely lacking and thus cannot be integrated into Nigerian public health structures. Also, there is a high prevalence of malaria in Nigeria, and clinical evidence mapping of herbal anti-malarias might be the innovation to improve malaria control and elimination programs.

The Malaria Challenge vs. Paxherbal Malatreat

Malaria is a national challenge in Nigeria requiring urgent intervention. The WHO documents that Nigeria uses herbal medicines in 60% of cases of early febrile diseases perceived to be malaria. Also, in the few systematic herbal medicine clinics across Nigeria and the many treatment homes existing in almost every hamlet, malaria and febrile conditions are the most encountered diseases by Traditional Medicine Practitioners (TMPs).

The NNMDA and PAXHERBALS decided to draw up a proposal that seeks to evaluate the Pax-herbal anti-malaria (Malatreat) in use at the clinic and research laboratories of paxherbals and its environs, Ewu-Esan in Edo state Nigeria by utilizing a prospective observational study design.

According to Pharmacist Ogar, a research fellow at NNMDA, and a key designer of the clinical trial proposal, few or no studies have illustrated methods to engage herbal medicine clinics in Africa and perhaps none in Nigeria on ways to describe and evaluate clinical use of herbal medicines as anti-malarial in patients. Observational clinical studies could be carried out to estimate the efficacy and toxicities of herbal anti- malarias in clinical protocols and thus document any adverse effects. This should provide the needed opportunity to measure patient outcome in malaria patients exposed to the herbal drug in a clinical setting.

Paxherbal maltreat was first registered by NAFDAC in 2008 as Paxherbal Malsol and has consistently passed regular tests and evaluation. It has a long history of safety and has been evaluation for toxicity, and have been certified safe for human consumption. 12 more Paxherbal products were further approved by NAFDAC in 2010. With over 36 registered herbal products for various diseases such as diabetes, High blood pressure and Arthritis, PaxHerbals has the highest number of NAFDAC approved herbal supplements in Nigeria.

According to director of Paxherbals, Fr. Anselm Adodo, if herbal practitioners in Nigeria and Africa want to be respected and integrated into the national health care system as healthcare providers, they will need to upgrade their practice through research and innovation. Most often, herbal practitioners do more of boasting and making bogus claims about their products, rather than engage in serious scientific work.

Paxherbal, ISTH and NNMDA Partnership

Recently, the Irrua Specialist Teaching hospital in Irrua (ISTH), Edo State, expressed interest in the proposal and have teamed up with PAXHERBAL and NNMDA to carry out this innovative and historic study. Such initiative is historic and revolutionary, and will be the first of its kind in Nigeria. The involvement of ISTH, a federal government specialist teaching hospital, in the research proposal also shows that conventional medical practitioners in Nigeria are willing to explore herbal medicine provided attention is given to rigorous research. Of course there will always be antagonists to any such partnership, but experience has shown that the future belongs to the people, and organizations, who are open to new possibilities and innovations.

The three organisations, NNMDA, PAXHERBAL and ISTH are currently working round the clock to acquire all the needed permissions, including ethical clearance, in line with best international practice. The short-term goals of the project are
- To Evaluate the effect of Pax-herbal anti-malaria (Malatreat) on Plasmodium falciparum
- To acquire evidence basis for utilization of the anti-malaria and to acquire necessary preliminary clinical data for the design of wide-scale Randomized Clinical Trial of the herbal therapy.
- To prospectively review the clinical outcome from treatment of malaria patients with PAX herbal Malatreat and to quantify the degree of parasitaemia reduction and antigenecity at every level of administration of Paxherbal Malatreat.
- To determine clearance rate of parasitaemia in the bloodstream of patients’ administered Paxherbal malatreat.
- To estimate the therapeutic efficacy and clinical safety of Paxherbal malatreat.
- To acquire necessary clinical data for the design of Randomized Clinical Trial of the herbal therapies.
In September 2017, Paxherbals forged a new partnership with Nigeria’s foremost medical research institute, the National Institute of Medical research (NIMR), to carry out clinical trials on some of the herbal products produced by Paxherbals, such as the malatreat for malaria, Diatea for Diabetes, Bitter tea for Hypertension and many others. Part of the partnership involves jointly setting up an herbal clinic and research unite at the institute, a very historic and significant move in the nation’s healthcare system.
October 5, 2017
Redesigned Curriculum Changes how We Learn Herbal Medicine

Paxherbals and the Institute of African studies, University of Ibadan, have formed a partnership in transforming the study and teaching of herbal medicine in Nigeria.

This year, the two bodies redesigned a new Masters and PhD curricula on Traditional African Medicine. The curricula have been approved by the University’s curriculum committee and the Institute will soon begin to admit masters and PhD candidates in Traditional African Medicine. This is another milestone in herbal medicine development in Nigeria.

Third from left: Prof. Dele Layiwola, Director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, and his team on an official visit to Paxherbal in January 2016

The outgoing director of the institute, Prof. Dele Layiwola, on his visit to Paxherbal laboratories in Edo state, expressed satisfaction at the high level of research commitment at Paxherbals, and encouraged Paxherbals not to relent in their mission of changing the face of traditional medicine in Nigeria.

Coordinator of Traditional medicine program at the Institute of African studies, Dr. Jegede, lamented that herbal medicine is a goldmine that has been neglected for too long, and needs urgent attention in Nigeria.

The Vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, expressed his satisfaction with the research partnership between Paxherbal and the Institute of African studies, and commended the director of Paxherbal. Fr. Anselm Adodo, for his visionary and open minded approach to research and transformative education in Nigeria.

The vice chancellor, University of Ibadan, presenting a gift to Fr. Adodo after deliberations on research partnership at the university in May 2016.

During an official visit to the Vice chancellor in May 2016, Fr. Adodo commended the University of Ibadan for their openness to new ideas. According to him, ‘Higher technical education is increasingly recognized as critical to development, especially with growing awareness of the role of science, technology and innovation in economic growth. Universities and research institutes are well placed to aid development through their involvement with local business industry and society.

Universities and institutions in developing countries can aid development by focusing some of their technical training on specific development needs. Nigerian polytechnics were established precisely to meet the needs for technical training in various fields of expertise in order to hasten development. Unfortunately, the craze for university decrees and the prestige of being labelled a ‘university graduate’ often made polytechnic graduates feel inferior and less valued’.

The director of the institute of African Studies at the university, also commended Fr. Adodo for his central role in the designing of a new post-graduate curriculum called ‘African transformation studies’, which has been approved by the university’s curriculum committee and the post-graduate school. The course aims to equip students with new practical skills in technological and social innovation, so that they can become transformation agents in in their different communities.

September 1, 2016
Learning About and Keeping Record of Plants

Pax herbarium’s mission is to collect every plant – indigenous, naturalized or exotic – that grows in Nigeria. By doing so, we are serving the demand for people interested in traditional medicine, ethnotaxonomy and are preventing any false identification and misuse of plants.

Nigeria’s vegetation is very rich, from the mangroves in the Delta to the rain and tropical forest and to the savannah, there is a vast diversity of vegetation in Nigeria.

We make our collections from Natural forest, forest reserves, forest regrowth, farms, savanna and swampy areas of the Nigerian delta.

The carpological section of our herbarium deals with fruits and seeds. The specimens are preserved wet in preservatives in order to keep their morphology intact. This section is very useful when it comes to the study of fruiting season, but we go beyond that in order to satisfy human curiosity for the use of fruits/seeds as drugs, food, cosmetics, insecticides and much more.

The voucher specimen section of the herbarium comprises of dried leaves, fruits, and flowers; pressed and mounted on a sheet of cardboard paper and arranged according to an acceptable system of classification. This section of the herbarium contains phytomedicinal and ecological information of plants.

We have made over 5000 collections from all over the country with a complete documentation of over 2000 plants in the herbarium card index, belonging to more than 900 species.

Students Industrial Training

IT students cultivating plants

During the course of the year, the Pax Herbarium admits up to 16 students to undergo industrial training (IT), which is part of the requirements for graduation for every student. As of the time of writing, we have 3 botany students from Kogi State University that are spending six months in the Herbarium, getting basic training in plant cultivation, identification and preservation. More students will come in the upcoming months from different universities from all over the country, ensuring a vast network of future graduates, that might one day become potential employees.

More students will come in the upcoming months from different universities from all over the country, ensuring a vast network of future graduates, that might one day become potential employees.

One of their duties while undergoing their training at Pax herbarium, is to prepare a seminar concerning a specific plant that they have studied and cultivated throughout their stay. This ensures a contribution towards the herbarium making the industrial training even more beneficial for both parties.

Written by Amadeus Stickl and Emmanuel Amodu

March 30, 2016
Paxherbal Congress 2015: African Herbal Medicine in View

Our affiliate Paxherbals writes a new chapter in the African story. It is in the area of alternative health for this and the future generation in a way that directly affects and impacts on the lives of people everywhere.

The event was the Paxherbal congress 2015 held at Lumen Christi International School, Uromi on the 25^th of August 2015. It was one that can be said to have aggregated some many little details about our social and cultural life that, while often being counted as of little importance, hold values that are vital to our betterment as a people living in Africa.

Paxherbal as a Driving Force in African Traditional Medicine

The event marks the beginning of several days when members of the “Paxherbal Family” comprising of the management of Paxherbals and staff, Paxherbal Health Care Providers, Paxherbal product distributors, Paxherbal Depots handlers across Nigeria come together to share experience, knowledge and challenges encountered over the past year. It was about telling the world that natural medicine and healing using herbs and methods from the motherland is changing the quality of living of Nigeria and Africa and at little or no cost to the African people.

Africans are known to be “people of the earth” or the cradle of oneness with nature but seems to be veering away from its century-old traditional values. This is as a result of too much reliance on modern medicine at the expense of natural healing. The message from Paxherbals is that both conventional medicine and the natural healing methods which often comprises of herbal medicine and other methods ought to complement each other.

The Paxherbal Congress seems to highlight “the little things”. The little things we don’t count as important that once added up could make the difference and bring Africans back to their roots. It is an approach that Paxherbals as the chief driver of healthier lifestyle through the utilization nature gifts

It starts with the food with eat the laughter we share and the collected positive attitude of the people around us. This was reflected in the carefully choreographed event at the Paxherbal congress

Meal: Back to our Roots

It is conventional in social gathering across Africa to serve snacks like meat-pie or sausage and soft drinks to guests at such an event. Paxherbals had a different idea. The snacks served was the common garden egg, ground-nut and water as refreshement before the meal of the day.

It was another opportunity to eat healthy knowing the immense health benefit of the common water, peanut and garden egg. It was meant to serve as a reminders that what we eat at every opportunity matters. This was also in line with the common African tradition before the advent of refined food, soft drinks and beverages.

The Cultural Dancers from Esan

it is customary at events in African to keep a place for the traditional dance of the people. Here to entertain the guests was the Uromi socio-cultural dance group performing the Atilogwu dance which has its origin in Eastern Nigeria. The Atilogwu dance is cultural dance which originated from the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria.

The Atmosphere

Paxherbal Congress was staged within the hinterland of Uromi, Edo State of Nigeria. Uromi in Edo State of Nigeria is a place where nature is still at its prime and where a lot of cultural values within the African context still hold sway.

written by: Anthony Ojo (@ojonow)

August 27, 2015