.Professor Anastasia Ndidiamaka Akpabe.Provost Anmak Natural Medicine Academy, Port Harcourt.
Natural Herbal Medicine Pharmacy Laboratory Department
In the past, herbal medicine and its practice in Africa has been relegated to the background.
However, In the recent past, there seems to be a renaissance not just about herbal medicine’s understanding as a recognized form of health services, but about it’s practice, efficacy and acceptance, hence its rejuvenation into the healthcare system, worldwide.
In some African countries, herbal or traditional practice has taken center stages in their healthcare delivery system. In Nigeria for instance, the practice has gained prominence through the introduction of standards and some forms of government recognitions.
Chukwudi Ejimofor, South-South Regional Editor of Summitnews in the quest to unraveling the age long conceptions or misconceptions about herbal medicine practice and its attendance doubts of efficacies that relates to alleged non conformity with the methods of Western methods of drug preparation and dispensation had an exclusive interview with Professor Anastasia Ndidiamaka Akpabe.
Professor Anastasia Akpabe is the Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director, Anmak Health Solutions in Port Harcourt. She is Professor of natural medicine; a naturalist and an acupuncturist specialists in specialized on muscoskeletal manipulations, and integrative natural health.
Professor Anastasia Akpabe is the Provost of ANMAK NATURAL MEDICINE ACADEMY; an affiliate of University of America College of Natural Health Science in Port Harcourt.
She went to China to learn Acupuncture, and to Kayasu International University to learn Acupuncture and some other arms of natural medicine. She schooled extensively with Green Center Academy to learn different parts of natural medicines like massage and herbal medicine formulations. She schooled with Nigeria Medicine Development Agency for production processes with modern techniques and equipments.
She did all she is doing out of passion and compassion. She didn’t acquire the experience through parental genealogy. She looked through future saw, and noted that despite the existence of big pharmacies and big hospitals, a lot of people were still suffering from health challenges that seems to defiled western medicine, hence her expeditions and exploits into natural medicine practice.
Excerpts:
Who is a natural or Herbal medicine practitioner and its practice
For many years, the people that uses natural herbs or its elements to promote healthcare system were seen as quacks, illiterate and those who don’t know dosages in drug dispensary. And over the years, we have made a lot of efforts to let people see what these Herbal Medicine Practitioners are doing, especially those who know what they are doing. They are using what God has put in our environment for healing, which enables people to have good health, live longer and enjoy life.
What has been the response from the public about natural medicine practice?
The feedback over these years has been that of rejection, but now the acceptance is gradually coming, which is not enough. Government has started well, by setting up what they called the Traditional Complimentary Alternative Medicine (TCAM) department. Government mandated all the departments in the federal ministry of health to have the department. With time they should move further to setup a regulatory board. The Traditional Medical Board or the Natural Medicine Board in the ministry that will now help us to be regulated, to be certified and then we have a place in ministry of health, where we have our complaints stated, and then the necessary supports given. This will make people not be scared of good natural medicine treatment for their health challenges.
Why the need for natural medicine in Nigeria healthcare system while the Western healthcare system is there?
The Orthodox medicine are trying, but you know they can not reach everywhere. The people in rural areas depends on herbs and natural elements.
We are tackling the removal of the sentiments and insinuation of seen or regarding natural medicine and juju or voodoo by forming associations; one of that association is the modern Traditional Medicine Practitioners of Nigeria, for whom I am the woman leader in Rivers state. We also have associations like the Integrated Medicine Practitioners. This take care of all the alternative medicine practitioners.
Obviously education is very important. If there is education they will no longer be hiding, and they will be out for practice. Though in natural medicine a lot of people inherited it from their parents or their guidance. But what we are saying is if government formalize it, and those who are genuine should come out and have their skills and knowledge improved upon. What we are doing is to come up a speed to do what the foreign countries are doing, taking the prime place in natural medicine, like China and other countries are doing.
Natural medicine is not fetish, it is human beings in their own character that might want to do what is fetish or voodoo. The pure natural medicine practitioner is focused. To us natural materials like the plants, even sand is medicine, the sun is medicine, the water is medicine, because God has put them for the healing of mankind.
There is something that is missing general in Nigeria environment, quality and standardization, you can come to me, I formulate my particulars for my pain killers, and somebody else may have the same or other. The beauty of natural medicine is that the materials are vast, we are not confined to a few chemicals. We have an arsenals of herbs and plants. That is why you see that in natural medicine we can take care of many of the illnesses that the western medicine is not able to address.
I have gone to health presentation for women, I told them that their health is in their kitchen. The way you prepare your food, the spices you add in your foods can serve as emergency.
What is the method of diagnosis in natural medicine practice?
As the western medicine has selected processes of diagnosing an illness, the natural medicine also have theirs; very common to both is history taking and observation. In natural medicine practice, we have what is called Tongue Diagnosis, Eye radiology. Natural Medicine Practice has technical equipment used for diagnosis quantum which differs with the western medicine, and every other equipment the western medicine practice uses, and they are very precise. But in some cases natural medicine is not totally avast western diagnosis, they sent some of their clients there to also check, because if it’s done, it gives the Practitioner bases for comparison if the quantum or the analyser agrees or differs. Natural Medicine diagnostic machine is call Magmatic Resonance Analyser (MRA).
In today’s practice, the natural medicine Practitioner who knows their onions do what is called referral, also is called “collabor”. When a Practitioner is handling a particular case and is proving difficult, they are not afraid to refer to someone who is more experienced in that particular field.
In today’s development, natural medicine practice is encouraging specialization, natural medicine Practitioners are no longer jack of all trade. We have Practitioners who specialize in tumor, in Cancer, in infertility, primary or secondary and so on.
The Magmatic Resonance Analyser (MRA) is universal within the field of natural medicine. There are natural medicine academies and schools where Practitioner and other related natural medicine personals are trained. The federal government has approved the Federal College of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (FCCAM) Abuja. It will serve as any other Federal University in Nigeria. Apart from the FCCAM some private Schools like ANMAK ACADEMY have strived to standardize the practice of natural medicine.
What are the sources of natural medicine materials?
A lot of things within our country and our environment are neglected or are not given the attention it requires. As a Herbalist, I am my own farmer in some cases, my own herbal processor and I bring it to the level of needs. I am all in one, like most other professionals are.
However, we are advocating for division of labor for the practice to become easier. Things are changing also, now we have middle men who are importing the semi processed medicinal materials that one can use to formulate herbal medicine.
What are those Illnesses that natural medicine has treated successful?
Natural Medicine treats human being and restore them to health. When you have a finger cut for instance; it’s not the finger that is disturbing. Natural medicine does not cannibalize the body health challenges. If you take Cancer for example, you hear of various type of it, but Cancer is Cancer, it simply means same problem is attacking different area of the body and it affects every part of the body. Cancer manifests because it takes its nutrients from the digestives through fermentation, and it’s still within the body.
Our mission in Natural Medicine is to attack that invader and the virus, remove it and restore the human body to normal. So, in essence weather it is tumor, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Eye problem, pains of any kind and much more.
Natural Medicine Practitioners are able to succeed because they adopt combined therapy, combined medication, combined method in all that they achieved. There is no illness known to man that natural medicine does not treat. There are qualified experts in natural medicine, and just like you have quacks in western medicine, we also have quacks in natural or alternative medicine.
What is the cost implication in natural medicine treatment?
Natural Medicine are very affordable and that is the reason in the remotest villages the people depends primarily on Natural medicine. The Western medicine is quite expensive and their processes very cumbersome. The natural medicine is simplistic to administer to the body. The Western medicine is expensive.
There are a lot of need that will benefit every individual, the society, the government. Natural medicine industry is a trillion dollars business. China is tapping into it and they are doing great, looking at the imports from China, processed or semi processed. The time has come when everybody should come down from their high Horses and use what God has given us to empower the youths, to make our people, old or young healthier and stop putting them on a lot of pressure, because most people die because of financial pressure required to take care of their health. What someone is thinking is only how to travel to abroad and how he can get his health, it’s a lot of capital flight.
What is the way forward for natural medicine in Nigeria?
The way forward is that it has started, but there has to be seriousness around it to bring it to perfection. In 2020 a Bill was passed into law; called Traditional Complimentary Alternative Medicine. This didn’t use to exist, and so we applaud that. The federal ministry as well mandated the state ministries to have that department in the states ministry of health.
Going further, a commission needs to be created, the department needs to be equipped and maned by through natural medicine Practitioner. And there has to be policies that brings this arm of medicine to be incorporated into the health care systems of the states and the nation. And above all the government should deliberately provide funding for research into the natural medicine industry.
The government should set up the regulating council for natural medicine, just like you have the dental and medical council, which regulates the western medicine. We believe that the more government pay attention to natural medicine, the more intentional it becomes.
How can one distinguish Traditional Medicine from natural Medicine Practitioners?
Traditional Medicine has existed even before many of us was born. It is a form or way of medicine a people uses to take care of their illness and also to maintain their health.
Many traditional Medicine Practitioners will tell you they inherited it from family to family. Or some will tell you they were called to it, either through dreams or visions, so you cannot wash them away like that. But you can also create a standard around it to supervise and regulate it, so that the fake can be weeded out.
The educated natural medicine Practitioners feel that they don’t belong to the association that joins the traditional and natural medicine Practitioners as a body.