FINDING A CURE FOR COVID-19
What I learned from school is that, medicinal plants are precursors of modern medicine.
When a research is done on a given plant sample, the preliminary tests are done on bioactivity of the extracts and then the chemical analysis follows.
The chemical analysis can result in a number of different chemicals, but identifying the one that is active is also another rigorous exercise, because you can identify one chemical from the plant extract with more than 50 sterio-isomers (chiral centers). To identify one isomer that is active and will not have adverse effects on human body, is also another story.
Therefore, it is almost practically impossible to imagine that you can get the plant material and produce a drug for the whole population in the whole world. However it is possible, botanical gardens can be put in place for relatively large production but this has been done on a small scale.
What is usually done is that, after identifying the most appropriate chemical from the plant sample, then a method of synthesis for that very chemical is devised. Then cheap sources of chemicals, like oil and petroleum products are used to synthesize the active ingredient. The active ingredient is then added to a binder, stabilizers and preservatives and this is also another long process.
In Africa that process was overtaken by events. Most of the mordern medicines are already researched on and what our pharmaceutical industries do is importing the active ingredient, adding up preservatives, stabilizers and binders and then the final product is produced into our markets. Take the example of an aspirin tablet. In Uganda we import the active ingredient aspirin and mix it with a binder, preservatives and pack. That is the only thing we do. But the rigorous identification of the active ingredient, the binders, the right preservatives, all is done somewhere else!
However in Africa, medicinal plants, once identified can be used as they are. This is advantageous because in addition to the active ingredient that cures the disease, the other parts also work as food material.
The disadvantage is that most of our medicinal plants sources have been depleted. It is a very big challenge to find some of the plant materials that can work on the various ailments that we are faced with.
There is also a challenge of storage, preservation and other challenges
Therefore for Africa to overcome this COVID-19 pandemic, there is need to go back to our roots.
When Herodotus visited Africa, he stated that there were inumerable doctors in Africa. Some specialising in the diseases of the head, others in the diseases of the heart, others in blood etc. Where did these doctors go?
There is need to go back to the drawing board and reset our mind so as to come up with new ideas
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