Nigeria's herbal medicines have long been popular, but they have rarely been tested for effectiveness or safety. The country's food and drug agency now says it would consider approving some herbal treatments, if they are tested first.
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00:00Morufat Razak is a herbal and traditional medicine practitioner.
00:05She is preparing Agbo, a popular herbal concoction in Nigeria's southwest, used by many to
00:12treat various illnesses.
00:15Agbo is traditional.
00:18Our forefathers are traditional people.
00:20Agbo works well in the body.
00:22We get it from roots and tree bark, and it works for fever, piles, stomach pain, malaria,
00:27typhoid, headaches.
00:29Once we mix everything together, it will heal the illness.
00:37Morufat is part of Nigeria's growing traditional medicine sector.
00:42Recent rising costs of medical drugs have helped drive an increase in demand for more
00:48affordable herbal remedies.
00:51And the increase in demand has been profitable for the herbal wholesalers as well as the
00:56practitioners.
00:58We are selling very well right now, a lot.
01:05Those are sales going on there.
01:06We bought the herbs yesterday and we are almost done selling them today, so we can use the
01:11profit to buy more.
01:14Our business is profitable.
01:15Herbs are profitable.
01:17And they work.
01:20But the traditional medicine business could pick up even more.
01:26Recently, the head of Nigeria's Food and Drug Agency said she would consider adding
01:32some remedies to the government's approved list of treatments if they underwent testing.
01:37Bearing in mind, these herbal medicines have been used by our forefathers and foremothers.
01:45However, we don't know whether it has caused a lot of harm in the past.
01:51What we expect practitioners to do is to now take it further for clinical trial.
01:59But in Nigeria, the reality is that clinical trial is very costly.
02:06Without support of the government or private institutions, it will be difficult to do clinical
02:16trials.
02:17The head of the Government Agency for Developing Natural Medicine agrees and says funding for
02:23trials is vital for Nigeria's herbal remedies sector to move forward.
02:29Once government makes research and development a priority, once private sector sees research
02:35and development as a priority development of our own natural medicines, then no country
02:41will see a break light, especially in Africa.
02:45Back at her kiosk in Lagos, Morufat's agbo sales are going well and her customers appear
02:52unconcerned about any lack of clinical trials.
02:57I take agbo from time to time.
03:00I take agbo.
03:01Even with the normal medicine you take, I still come back to take agbo because agbo
03:07goes down to the roots of whatever you are treating and flush it out.
03:13I take agbo for the sake of my, if I'm not feeling well, for me to be strong and healthy,
03:21so I take agbo.
03:24As the price of medical drugs rises, more people will turn to traditional practitioners
03:30like Morufat.
03:31For many, it may be the only treatment they can afford.