GOING BACK TO ROOTS: THE HERBAL MEDICATION

Health care is a critical component, or should be regarded as a critical area, in any society. “A healthy nation is a wealthy nation.” For a country to be prosperous, it needs to have strong, healthy, and energetic citizens to be productive.

My take is always this: even if the government fails in many areas, it should not fail in three key areas — 1. Healthcare, 2. Education, and 3. Food security. These areas are core in ensuring the future survival of a nation. Without an educated society, people don’t make informed decisions, and there will be no innovations to solve emerging problems, including in healthcare. If a government cannot feed its citizens, it means they are not able to work and provide taxes needed for development. Lastly, if we have a sick nation, we will have no one to work, while all the resources we make will drain into medical bills.

During wars, one of the most lethal weapons was not the best artillery and ammunition a battalion had, but biological warfare which remains the most lethal form of weapon that cannot be compared to date. When you make your enemies ill, you have won the war even before it starts. That’s why biological warfare is considered an unethical form of war.

Now to the agenda of the day herbal medication. Before the missionaries, explorers, and colonizers came, Africa already had a way of treating illnesses a system of medicine passed down from generation to generation. It was not the best system, but it worked.

When the missionaries and colonizers came, they led us to the cross and made us shun the old ways in the name of coming out of darkness into the light. And to be clear, that was good — it exposed us to innovation and technology. We saw smarter ways of doing things and adopted their systems, which also brought other challenges. We started to see that there were “better” people than others. They preached equality but practiced division.

The elite were given the best healthcare while the ordinary people got the average. The best medicines were preserved for the crème de la crème of society, while the rest took whatever was available. If we survived, well and good; if not, no one cared. After all, our value was not considered worthy in society.

Now, let me take you to another society where we mostly seek help the Asians (Indians, Chinese, Japanese). Somehow, these societies were either colonized or influenced by the advancement of technology, but a few things remained sacred. They did not give it all away; they preserved what mattered to them, including their ancient medicines and practices.

This has enabled them to have alternatives in caring for the masses. At one point, we had almost if not similar systems in Africa, but somehow, we gave it all to the wind. They made us believe that herbal medicine was demonic or witchcraft. Anyone from the lineage of herbalists was considered cursed.

Now, as a country and continent, we have become dependent on others to care for us. Even our top class now travels out of the country to seek medical care some of it, like herbal medicine, which we are now paying for at a high price, could have been offered right here at home.

One of the downsides of the herbal system we had was that medicine could not be quantified in prescription it was given on a trial-and-error basis. Also, the content of the medicine was not clear — we didn’t know the exact ingredients.

What did the Asian world do differently? They merged the two systems the old and the new. With integration into technology, they were able to research and make it better. Medicine became more accurate by knowing the content of the herbs and the exact quantities that should be prescribed. By doing that, they are now among the world’s most dependable systems in healthcare. Through such improvements, they have been able to produce the best medicines from herbs, which are preferred to the synthetic medicines produced in laboratories.

With a challenging healthcare system that we can barely manage and one rooted in corruption it has been nearly impossible to get the care we deserve. What should be there to help us be well is the same system that is almost killing us. The government has become careless in safeguarding the lives of its citizens. We get counterfeit and low-grade medication that does nothing to make us heal. The broken system has also made healthcare inaccessible.

How, then, is herbal medicine an alternative? Herbal medicine can help make healthcare accessible by providing an alternative option for those who cannot afford expensive treatment. Herbal medicines are effective for common health issues, thereby reducing the surging numbers in hospitals and letting the hospitals focus on critical care.

Adapting herbal medicine will also help reduce lifestyle diseases. Herbal medicine includes the consumption of indigenous organic meals, as they are part of the system. Society should adopt the practice of growing indigenous crops.

There have been reports that Western influence wants Africa to grow only what they approve as good for them even dictating the varieties that should be grown. Through this, they control what we can grow and what we cannot. The downside of this is that the hands behind such rules are the big pharmaceutical companies that greatly benefit from a sick society. The government should take the forefront in protecting its citizens from such exploitation and safeguard what we have.

We have already lost many indigenous species of crops due to unworthy policies that promote species advised by the West. Let’s refocus and regrow what we had.

Lastly, just like those societies that have reintegrated herbal medicine into their healthcare systems, we should also do the same beginning from the education sector. We should start teaching it in schools, from the lower levels to higher learning institutions. We should shun the retrogressive thoughts of saying herbal medicine is witchcraft.

Medical research centers should be supported to carry out research on herbal medicine so that we can develop medicines that are effective and affordable for society. With proper regulations and certification of qualified doctors, we can have a decent herbal care system one that will make our nation healthy and wealthy.