Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has explained that the need to internationalise African herbal medicine and maximise local herbs for economic advantage was responsible for his decision to lead efforts to coordinate its recognition since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
The monarch made this known in a chat with reporters in his palace after donating two motorised fumigating machines to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan on Tuesday.
The machines were received by members of the management team of the hospital led by the Chief Medical Director (CMD) Prof. Jesse Otegbayo.
Oba Ogunwusi noted that pandemics are not new in human society, pointing out that our forefathers overcame them with the use of herbs. He said herbs, shrubs, tree roots and stem backs which have healing powers are in large supply in Africa but that production and usage have not gone through clinical processes to make them acceptable internationally.
According to him, the current efforts are not just aimed at producing clinically approved herbal medicine for Coronavirus but for other diseases including cancer, malaria, arthritis and HIV.
The monarch said the African herbal medicine team is working with professors of Pharmacy and Medicine as well as regulatory agencies such as the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NADFAC).
The project is collating herbal solutions to the diseases with research and clinical testing. He revealed that the project has reached an advanced stage with stakeholders excited at the progress being made.
Ogunwusi recalled that he took time to study the response of Chinese government to the outbreak of COVID-19. He said all victims whose infection was categorized as mild were treated with Chinese herbs while those with serious infection were treated with advanced drugs.
Presenting the machines to the UCH team, the monarch said he has a strong emotional attachment with the hospital having grown up there. He revealed that his mother worked, retired and died at the hospital, making the institution occupy a large part of his heart.
He pledged to always support the hospital in the efforts to restore its lost glory.
The hospital’s CMD Prof. Otegbayo commended the monarch for his stable support for the UCH. Emphasizing that government alone cannot fully fund health institutions, Otegbayo said Ooni Ogunwusi has been one Nigerian that has opened his doors to the hospital, noting that he has been consistently supporting it.
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