Use of Traditional Herbal Medicines to Cure Malaria

The problem of resistance by malaria causing parasites to drugs in current usage, or of malaria vectors to pesticides has prompted nations to refocus attention on implementing research on new drug development and new pesticides development. The world appears to be rediscovering the importance of traditional medicines and people are resorting to use traditional medicines in different names such as Alternative Medicines, or Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). The suffering and economic hardships due to malaria in endemic areas call for extensive research and development of effective and safe antimalaria drugs. Surveys carried out in some malaria endemic areas of Zimbabwe in this study revealed that people are confident in the efficacy of herbal medicines for malaria, for example A. amara, A. digitata, D. nitidula, L. discolour, V. infausta and many others. Samples of Aristolochia petersiana were collected from Chipinge and the other plant samples were collected from Gutu in 2009 and experimental work completed in 2009 at the University of Zimbabwe and the then Blaire Research laboratory. Efficacies of extracts of parts of these plants were invitro assayed against malaria parasites and aliquots were added to solutions of fansidar and invitro assayed to establish their effects on the efficacy of fansidar. Some of the extracts increased the zone of inhibition of fansidar, yet others decreased it. Thus the claim by ethnomedical practitioners that ethnomedicines and western medicines combine to make western medicines more effective should not be taken at face value. Behaviours of these, like any other chemicals, may go either way. They may be antagonistic or potentiate or may be synergistic, or may not have any effect at all. Actual behaviour needs be established by experimentation. However, some plant drugs may compete established drugs for use against malaria.