11 Feb 2015

The use of herbal medicine is the oldest form of healthcare that is still used in many cultures of the world.

However, Professor Runner Majinda  said much still needed to be done to establish quality parameters for collection, processing and production of traditional medicine and employ such parameters in ensuring the safety of herbal drugs.

Professor Majinda said at Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) public seminar on Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) that more research was required to reach the standardisation of herbal medicines as there should be basic requirements of being safe and effective.

He noted that the standardisation of herbal medicines would be challenging because there was variability in medicines caused by differences in growth, geographical location and time of harvesting among others.

Professor Otlogetswe Totolo said indigenous medicine and food had always formed a significant part in the delivery of first line health care and nourishment.

He thus said it was imperative to explore how the indigenous knowledge systems could be commercialised into acceptable biomedical and market ready products and services.

Professor Totolo said across Africa there were well documented cases to illustrate how indigenous knowledge systems could play a crucial role in development, such as provision of primary health care to help reduce child mortality in Eritrea and maternal mortality in Uganda.

Other cases include helping communities in Mozambique to manage coastal natural resources and using traditional medicinal plants in Zimbabwe to treat malaria.

Meanwhile, the University of Botswana created a Centre for Scientific Research, Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation (CesrlKi), which attempts to link scientific research with indigenous knowledge systems.
CesrlKi has undertaken several major surveys including documenting IKS in the country and promoting IKS among communities as well as developing the National IKS Policy. ENDS