HERBAL MEDICINE, DOES IT REALLY WORK?

You must have come across someone who advised you to use herbal medicine once in your life time, but do these locally-grown herbs really work? Am not a good fun of these herbs for only two particular reasons:  one is hygienic conditions of both the people involved and the place of work (where they manufacture or boil the herbs)  and the other is professionalism of the practitioners.

To tell the truth, the number of people going for herbs is increasing significantly across Africa--both men and women, educated and uneducated--and the business is booming, hence attracting many investors. While a many Ugandans associate this business with Jjujju (witchcraft) and African traditional religions, when it comes to seeking these herbs, even prominent modern religionists will put their faith/belief on hold and use it. Today, it’s now like a religion itself. We are seeing more advanced arrangements mostly known as reflexology, there’s so much manipulation using this system and it feels like no one regulates how reflexology works. 

For the past two weeks, I have not seen the wife of my landlord. I didn’t care much about her whereabouts since it’s not my business to know. But this morning I was alarmed to see her getting out of her house with big bottles of herbal medicine. I felt sorry for her simply because, from my observation, she can afford any medical doctor in any medical centre in Kampala, but then why does she use herbs? I kept that for my own, some things are better left unknown. I was determined to ask her but chose not to.

These herbs are not purchased by prescription.  You simply hear the herbal businessman telling their patients to take five litres of herbs, and sometimes they even tell you to take a jerrycan of 20 litres, this is total madness and backwardness of African people.

There are many things I love in life, one of them is cameras of any kind.  Cameras don’t lie. Recently on NTV, a journalist brought the story of a herbal maker on its screens. The guy had lots of stuff in his place of work including a Qur’an (90% of herbal makers are Moslem, at least in Uganda).This guy was arrested for mixing his herbal medicines with all funny and dirty stuff. He was mixing it with his urine, saliva, burnt nails, pupu (shit) and he went ahead to also burn his hair into ashes then mixed it with the herbs. When the journalist asked him why he does that? His answers were “The Qur’an teaches them that everything from them, both in and outside can be used to heal.” This is on record.

This is a humanitarian issue. No society should permit entrepreneurs to make a living endangering people’s lives. This is the primary reason am writing about this. Take precautions before getting addicted to buying herbs.

While the journalists did their work, it’s now a year and never heard of him being charged. I even recall seeing some Moslem leaders protesting “that the guy was NOT a Moslem and that his actions were against the Qur’an and the Islamic regulations”. Since then, nothing we heard of any action by courts of law in Uganda.

We all know how these medicines are prepared; they pick up discarded empty containers (mostly plastic water bottles) which are used to package their products. The bottles and cans are picked from polluted Kampala streams and we cannot be sure how they are treated beforehand. Some guys even pee in these cans before dumping them in streams around Kampala.

On many occasions, I overheard customers of this kind of medical solutions complaining that “herbal makers” packed food color.  Forgive me because I don’t consider them professional healers, therefore I have no respect for them.   Can you imagine? Let whatever illness hit me, I will never use locally made (unapproved) herbs.

I truly presume that some herbs may have some real benefits like thoseones used by women after and before giving birth but I encourage strong critical consultation virtually. We now have the Internet,which has more information on almost anything you would ever like know, it should be consulted before buying any herbs.  If you are not sure of what to do on internet to get what you would want,kindly seek some help from Internet Café attendants. Most of them are kind and approachable.