Toward a clinical research framework for collaboration among selected stakeholders in traditional herbal medical practice in seme and gem sub-locations in Nyanza province, Kenya

Abstract

Both World Health Organization (WHO) and Kenya government have recognized the role of herbal traditional medicinal practice in primary health management due to the observation that 80% of the rural communities consult traditional healers before they go for the orthodox medical services. The traditional herbal practice remains familiar and artitional, thus least developed and hence the patients do not get the best values for their input in the services. The research strategies executed by researchers have never focussed on the plight of the patients but covered phytochemical, pharmacological and no clinical evaluations. Effectively, the data so far available remain less useful than should have been to the development of herbal traditional practices. The current project thus aimed at focussing on the establishment of a research strategy that used observational studies to establish the possibility for designing a rigorous clinical trials of herbal medical practice involving participation of three herbalists, patients, one orthodox medical doctor, a plant taxonomist and a phytochemist with the objectives of proofing and validating the practice, using principles of biomedical and bioscience in Gem and Seme sublocations in Siaya and Kisumu Districts, respectively in Nyanza province, Kenya. Through the ethnobotanical field survey, the taxonomist identified 95 plant species used by the herbalists. Through literature review it was found that 100% of the plants are used by other herbalists in East Africa to treat human and animal ailments while 30% of the species had received phytochemical and pharmacological evaluations, thus validating their therapeutic values. About 10% of these species had been used in clinical studies. The observation indicate that the herbalists have reasonable potentials for management of the diseases despite their ignorance on the literature data on these plants as well as modern medical practical procedures. The inclusion of modern diagnosis of diseases by a medical doctor and medical laboratory tests improved the rate of the healing outcome by 20% when the healing rate was compared with that observed for the treatment of patients before the intervention through this project. The results so far indicate that it is practicable to implement a rigorous clinical trial in which both herbalists, patients and researchers collaborate. Such strategies shall not only give critical data for validation of herbal traditional medicinal practice but be useful for prospection for phytochemicines based on indigenous knowledge and also be used for the improvement and management of the practice.