Translational Herbal Medicines Availability: A Necessity to Ensure Medicine Security in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Over 80% of people in Africa receive care from Traditional African Medicine (TAM), which is part of our socioeconomic and cultural legacy. Nigerian traditional herbal medicine has made signifificant contribution to the primary health care needs of Nigerians from time immemorial. However, there is signifificant room for improvement in its development and utilization. In most communities, they have served as the primary and, in some cases, the only source of healthcare for many millions of people. This is because they are accessible and reasonably priced. They are trusted by a vast majority of the populace, having been embraced culturally. Due to the current economic set back in Nigeria and other developing countries, the affffordability of these herbal medicines have made them to be in high demand as alternatives for primary health needs of majority of the populace. Asignifificant amount of efffforts have been made to translate herbs used locally into standardised dosage forms, however there is still a lot to be done in this regard. Herbal medicines, whose potency, effiffifficacy and safety have been scientififically validated can help to achieve the goal of ensuring that everyone has access to healthcare. Methods: A review of translational herbal medicines available in Nigeria was centered on emphasizing the necessity of translational herbal medicine. This will ensure availability and affffordability of drugs, which will in turn lead to medicine security in Nigeria. Results:Recommendations were made to encourage the use of translational herbal medicine to ensure medicine security in Nigeria. Conclusion: For the benefits of herbal medicine to be maximized, individuals must be informed about the likely benefits and risks of supplementing their use of conventional medicine with Herbal Medicine. In addition, herbal medicinal products must be standardized to render them more acceptable such that they can be integrated into the national health care delivery system.