by Ejidiah Wangui
NAIROBI, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Resting on a papyrus mat outside her house in a little-known village, south of Kenyan capital Nairobi, Lydia Gitu sips on a brown concoction at intervals.
Every sip leaves a cold sweat on her face, the chilly morning notwithstanding. Lydia has for the last six months been ailing from a condition she is yet to put a name to, but the brown concoction she got from a herbalist two weeks ago seems to be healing her frail body.
Even though she has no clue of what the concoction is made of, it is the only hope she is hanging on after she exhausted her meager income at an expensive private hospital.
"I have run out of money now so I can no longer go to the hospital and things are a bit slow in public hospitals since the nurses are still on strike," said Lydia, a retired civil servant.
She is among a growing number of Kenyans who are turning to herbal and traditional doctors as Kenya's public health system struggles with an ongoing strike by nurses and clinical officers.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80 percent of all Kenyans resort to herbal and traditional methods for their health needs.
The UN agency also estimates that there are over 9,000 herbalists in Kenya, or one practitioner for every 4,000 people.
Though herbal medicine is not always the first option for many patients, business has been booming for the traditional healers in the last few months.
Speaking to Xinhua in his make-shift clinic in Nairobi, Mwashimbe attests to the fact that things have been looking up for him for the last few months.
"Last month I treated more than 10 patients, which has never happened since I ventured into this trade," he said.
Mwashimbe's clients list has been expanding by the day especially since he started advertising his services in local newspapers.
"I receive many calls daily from Kenyans in need of my services, and as much as public hospitals are going through trying moments, I think generally Kenyans are slowly embracing alternative medicine which is a good thing for us in this sector," he added.
For Geoffrey Munyao, herbal medicine is all his stomach needed to end the numbing pain that forced him to retire from his job as a security guard.
"I had tried almost every other doctor I knew of, my late father's friend recommended a herbalist who finally put to an end my suffering. I had my own reservations on traditional medicine before but my perception has since changed. From then on, I take all my health needs to the herbalist," Munyao told Xinhua.
Munyao believes herbalists have a role to play in the country's health sector but feels that if Kenya is to emulate China and create an industry around the production of herbal medicines, it will need to quickly address the issue of sustainable cultivation.
"With the growing demand for herbal medicine, there is a likelihood of overharvesting of the herbs, which might in the future deny people's access to an alternative treatment," he said.
Moreover, despite their widespread use, there still lacks proper documentation on medicinal plants used by herbalists.
According to Mwashimbe, the threat of losing the knowledge on herbal medicine posed by deforestation, lack of proper regulation, overexploitation and socio-cultural issues warrants an urgent need for documentation.
THREAT OF QUACK
Concerns have also been raised over a growing number of cons posing as licensed herbalists.
According to Mwashimbe, he has received several complaints from some of his patients who had been conned before and hopes the government will do its best in regulating the industry to protect "genuine ones like him."
And in Grace Kamatu's case, she almost died in the hands of a quack who had promised to cure her of elephantiasis.
"I have lived with elephantiasis for as long as I can remember, so when someone promised to get rid of it, I quickly bought the idea only for my situation to worsen two weeks into taking the herbal medicine," Kamatu said.
