Kenya Church Leaders Demand Testing of HIV/AIDS Herbal Medicines
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2012/10/kenya-churches-demand-testing-hiv-aids-herbal-medicines.html
Concerns echo debate over "miracle herbal cure" in neighboring Tanzania that drew millions.
October 23, 2012
Now church leaders in neighboring Kenya are pressing their government to scientifically test herbal medicines that are used by millions to manage and treat diseases, saying the nontraditional therapies could be putting patients' health at risk.
The leaders say HIV/AIDS patients and others suffering chronic conditions are widely using the medicines, whose efficacy is unknown.
“We are urging the government to test the medicines in modern laboratories so that citizens can be advised scientifically about what they are taking. That’s a challenge we are also throwing to universities,” former Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi told reporters last week.
The natural medicines are so popular that some churches are advising their congregations and people with AIDS to use them to boost their immunity, alongside standard anti-retroviral medicines, said Nzimbi.
Sometimes, that advice is being interpreted to mean that sick people should abandon their medicine in favor of the herbs, according to Nyabuto Marube, an evangelical church leader.
“That’s the risk,” he said. “They should not been seen as replacements for modern medicines, but as supplements for now.”
Gideon Byamugisha, the Ugandan Anglican priest who in 1992 became the first African religious leader to declare he was HIV-positive, told a medical conference last week how he had used herbs to fight opportunistic infections.
“When I became sick in 1998, a time when there were no ARVs, I used garlic to fend off infections,” said Byamugisha. “There are many herbs in use, but we also need to know how they combine with modern medicines.”
Tanzanians Throng to Miracle Cure
Churches debate healing power of pastor's cure.
Tom Osanjo in Nairobi,
Kenya
[ posted 9/20/2011 10:05AM ]
In April, 43-year-old Jackson
Mwasapila of northern Tanzania
died from what doctors suspected to be malaria. While malaria is one of the
leading killers in Africa, Jackson
was no ordinary patient.
He was the son of Ambilikile Mwasapila, a 76-year-old retired Lutheran pastor who has made global
headlines for dispensing an herbal "miracle cure" he claims can heal
any ailment: cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other terminal diseases.
Mwasapila has drawn hundreds of thousands in a culture where superstition
remains widespread and the health system is dilapidated. Of every 1,000
children, 118 die before the age of 5.
Traffic jams stretching miles from Mwasapila's previously unknown
village of Samunge,
near Serengeti National Park, have become the norm.
It's particularly remarkable considering that the nearest major city, Arusha,
is 250 miles away. Officials report significant increases in tourism revenues
as wealthy patrons charter helicopters from Nairobi
in neighboring Kenya
and hundreds continue to pour in by foot and car. Local media report that more
than 80 people have died waiting in line. All for a small cup of an herbal cure
offered at the wallet-friendly price of 50 Tanzanian shillings (3 cents).
The Tanzanian government reported in May that the concoction,
which Mwasapila claims God revealed to him and is derived from mugariga tree
bark, is "not toxic and safe for use." But Alloys Orago, director of
the National AIDS Control Council in Kenya, maintained that "the
effectiveness and safety of the herb has not been ascertained." He joined
with the U.S embassy in Dar Es Salaam
and the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to discourage AIDS
patients from abandoning antiretroviral treatment given at hospitals in pursuit
of herbal remedies. Those who do risk drug immunity and sometimes death.
The remedy has similarly divided the Tanzanian public. Mid-summer
Synovate polls show that 59 percent approved of Mwasapila's methods while 29
percent disapproved; another 11 percent were unsure.
Some, such as Jennifer, a 41-year-old Kenyan mother of two who
took a 15-hour van ride to drink the cure, swear by their own lives that the
drug works. She now says she is HIV-negative after living with the disease for
a decade. Thomas Laizer, bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church
in Tanzania's
Northern and Central Diocese, has announced plans for a large "herbal
hospital" where the sick could receive Mwasapila's cure under more
comfortable and sanitary conditions.
Others remain skeptical, arguing that the death of Mwasapila's
son proves the pastor is nothing but a quack.
Leaders of the Evangelical Assemblies of God in Tanzania, the
Dar Es Salaam–based Full Gospel Bible Fellowship, and the Seventh-Day Adventists
warned members not to travel to Mwasapila's clinic, maintaining that God's
healing powers did not require such a journey.
Oliver Kisaka, deputy secretary general of the National Council
of Churches of Kenya, said that while Mwasapila's claims of divine inspiration
leave little room for debate, "Generally, we would want to ask our people
to walk in faith and not in superstitions, because as Christians we are called
to walk by faith."
But pastor Andrew Mollel of Arusha's Philadelphia Church
refuted warnings that the healings would lead people astray and corrupt their
faith. "Pastor Mwasapila is providing a cure; he is not preaching a new
faith or introducing another religion," he told the Arusha
Times. "If the medicine works, then by all means people should go
and take it."
The rush for the so-called ‘wonder drug’ administered by the
faith healer Ambilikile Mwasapile in northern Tanzania turned into a humanitarian
crisis with deaths and injuries reported. Photo/FILE
Thousands scramble for ‘miracle’ drink
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Thousands+scramble+for+miracle+drink+/-/1056/1131164/-/tp00fwz/-/index.html
By Tom Mosoba newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, March 22 2011 at 22:00
In Summary
- Health disaster looms as many continue to stream into medicine man’s home to get cured of various ailments
The sleepy village of Samunge in Arusha, Northern Tanzania, is teaming with thousands of ailing people from all walks of life who have heard that 76-year-old Ambikile Mwasapile, has discovered a miracle cure for all types of diseases.
But on Tuesday, the Tanzanian government announced it was temporarily halting the inflow of thousands of people streaming to Samuge Village believing that they can be cured of such ailments as Aids, cancer and diabetes, among others.
The move announced by the Arusha regional commissioner, Mr Isidore Shirima, came as a humanitarian crisis was building up around Samunge Village where the pastor-turned-herbalist has, for the last few months, hosted a multitude of patients out to get his herbal medicine.
Mr Shirima said torrential rains have rendered the village inaccessible while long queues of vehicles running up to 20km from the village had necessitated the intervention.
In an interview with the media from his Arusha office on Tuesday, the Mr Shirima said due to the rough terrain, most vehicles are stuck on the way and supply for basic services like food and other amenities such as toilets and shelter could not be guaranteed.
“It is not the intention of the government to stop anyone from receiving the medicine. However, we are pleading with the public to understand we are acting to forestall any catastrophe,” Mr Shirima said.
The administrator said they have communicated with outlying regions to pass the word around and educate those intending to travel to the village to wait for the situation to improve.
The Arusha Regional Police Commander, Mr Tobias Andengenye confirmed yesterday they were working on modalities to control traffic flow into the village.
Large crowds
He said the security personnel would also liaise with Mr Mwasapile over the matter. The herbalist’s small compound has been overwhelmed by the large crowds while the rains have compounded the preparation of the herbs from a local shrub called ‘Mugariga.’
Over 10,000 patients are spending up to four and five nights to access the old man. In a recent interview with The Citizen, the widowed former pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania and some of his close associates were planning to establish a “grand prayer house” and “home for the sick” not far from the village in Loliondo District.
“More people from all over the world will come to witness this miracle and God has shown me where and how to establish a worship area and shelter to accommodate and heal the sick,” he said in the interview.
A Cabinet minister from Kenya was said by an immigration official to be among high dignitaries from Kenya who visited to get the treatment during the weekend.
Several Tanzanian MPs have been spotted at the village drinking the herbal medicine, which Mr Mwasapile claims was shown to him by God who had “powered it with his word to treat and cure the sick”.
Tanzania halts ‘miracle cure’ after 52 die
This came amid reports of a humanitarian crisis as thousands of sick people swamped the village for a herbal concoction, mugariga, administered by the Rev Ambilikile Mwasapile. It is claimed to cure all ailments.
“There will be no more trips to Samunge village (in Loliondo area) until people who are currently there have been served and left the area,” Ngorongoro district commissioner Elias Wawa Lalie said.
Medical experts have also expressed concerns about the potency and efficacy of the herbal treatment, although this has not stopped the flow of patients into Loliondo.
The Rev Mwasapile, 76, had on Saturday warned of a crisis as thousands mobbed his compound for treatment. (READ: Loliondo pilgrimage marred by deaths and accidents)
The remote village lacks basic amenities such as toilets, hotels and lodgings to cater for the large number of people streaming in.
Unconfirmed reports indicated that about 24,000 sick people and their relatives were queuing to see the cleric-turned-traditional healer.
Journalists at the weekend counted a convoy of up to 4,000 vehicles snaking into the village. About 100 vehicles had broken down on the rough road to the rugged hills overlooking Lake Natron where the old man has set up his “clinic”.
The cleric said in a two-page statement on Saturday as he pleaded with the authorities to stop the traffic for at least a week to clear the jam: “This is a pathetic situation and something should be done to stem the crisis.”
He added: “From today (March 26th) those intending to seek my services should wait until after April 1st when those in the queue should have been cleared.”
The retired pastor also warned that patients in hospital should not be rushed to him, especially those in critical condition.
On Sunday, government officials in Arusha were not categorical on how they would implement the directive amid reports thousands of people were stranded in the town awaiting transport to Loliondo.
The Rev Mwasapile wanted each vehicle or helicopter to be surcharged Sh5,000 and Sh150,000 respectively by the Ngorongoro District Council.
He also proposed the upgrading of the road leading to the area, construction of toilets and proper management of the long queues.
“We don’t have any statement to make. We concur with what Rev Mwasapile had suggested and we will ensure there is an orderly transiting to him,” Arusha regional commissioner Isidore Shirima said.
Reporters on the ground said on Sunday people were still flooding the village for the “miracle” cure.
Reports about the Rev Mwasapile first trickled into Arusha in September last year, initially as an HIV/Aids cure but were largely ignored as country was in the peak of election campaigns.
Loliondo pilgrimage marred by deaths and accidents
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Loliondo+pilgrimage+marred+by+deaths+and+accidents++++/-/1056/1133624/-/nf80u0/-/index.html
http://www.abeingo.org/archives/news_march2011.html
By ZEPHANIA UBWANI IN ARUSHA ubwanizg@gmail.com
Posted Saturday, March 26 2011 at 22:00
In Summary
- Tanzanian government officials say six people died on March 8 alone as the sick troop to village for faith healer’s miracle cure
Ngorongoro District Commissioner Elias Wawa Lali told the Sunday Nation that the six died on March 8. Five of them died on the queue while the fifth, a child, was crushed by a vehicle he was under when the parents went for the liquid concoction.
The Citizen team that returned from Samunge village early this week counted five bodies.
However, a section of the Tanzanian media has reported bigger death figures, 10 of which are reported to have occurred last weekend alone.
People who died are mostly those taken straight from their hospital beds while in critical condition and taken to Loliondo for the miracle cure. They include those suffering from HIV/Aids-related ailments.
Deaths have also been attributed to exhaustion with the sick sometimes having to spend days queuing, travelling to the remote areas on nearly impassable roads or getting stranded on the way. Clean water, food, medicine are not readily available.
Traffic accidents have claimed at least eight lives and scores injured, some critically, in the area according to police reports.
Accommodation has been a problem but in recent days clever people have taken big tents to the area which they rent at high fees. Other people spend nights in their vans or outside in the cold.
The pilgrims normally start their journey from Arusha between 9 p.m. and midnight, arriving at Samunge in the morning, spend the whole day in the queue and after reaching the healer take another night before returning.
On Saturday, the Tanzanian government did not announce measures to stem the humanitarian crisis likely to develop in Loliondo after the miracle healer apparently stopped the exercise.
The Rev Ambilikile Mwasapile, whose clinic has attracted thousands seeking his herbal concoction, is reported to have called senior government officials in Arusha and urged them to hold on until he made public his stand on the issue.
Hordes of journalists based here converged at the district commissioner’s office early on Saturday to hear the government verdict on the crisis but were told steps to be taken would be announced after further consultations with the healer.
“Unfortunately there will be no briefing on what measures the government intends to take as we promised you yesterday (Friday),” said Mr Lali.
He noted the exercise had to be called off following communication received late on Friday in which the healer pleaded his position on the matter should precede the government’s announcement.
“He [the healer] insisted that before the government announces any measures, he be given a chance to issue his statement on how best he thought the crisis should be handled,” the DC explained, declining further details.
Mr Lali later left with scores of journalists to the remote Samunge village.
He said contacts made with the healer indicated he preferred to make his stand known through a media briefing that the old man himself was expected to convene in his village on Saturday.
The spiritual healer’s decision would immediately be communicated to other government leaders, including the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office William Lukuvi who until Saturday was still in Arusha to monitor the crisis.
The minister has been in Arusha since Wednesday consulting leaders from the northern regions over the looming humanitarian catastrophe in Loliondo following the influx of people there for herbal treatment.
On Wednesday, he chaired a crisis meeting of leaders from six regions and admitted the authorities were cautious on handling the issue because the treatment offered there was mainly faith-based.
Mr Lukuvi reiterated earlier government position not to close the healer’s clinic but expressed his concern about the plight of sick people ferried there for treatment, poor sanitation and security.
Beware of quacks claiming to cure
diabetes
The Citizen Correspondent
Thursday, 30 June 2011 22:11
Dodoma. Diabetes patients should be aware of traditional healers claiming to have a cure for the disease because there is no traditional medicine for the illness.This was said in Parliament yesterday by the deputy minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Lucy Nkya, when answering a supplementary question from Dr Maua Daftari.
She had wanted to know the results of tests conducted on the
‘miracle cure’ dispensed by Rev Ambilikile Mwasapila of Samunge village in
Loliondo, Ngorongoro District.In reply, Dr Nkya said the tests have not been
completed. Therefore there was no clinical proof that the Samunge herbal
medicine can cure diabetes as claimed by some people who have taken it, she
said.
Dr Nkya explained that the ministry’s experts, in collaboration with others, was still going on with tests on the Samunge medicine.However, she noted that tests which have been completed have established that the medicine, made from mugariga tree roots, has no bad effects on human beings.In her main question, Ms Kidawa Hamid Salehe (Special Seats - CCM) wanted to know if diabetes could be cured using traditional herbs.
Dr Nkya told the law makers that diabetes was among serious diseases and people should beware of those who claim to have a cure for it.However, she said the government would not intervene and ban the ‘mugariga’ medicine because many people who had been flocking to the remote Samunge village for the ‘miracle cure’ have been doing so on their own volition.She noted that there were many medicines which were under research as curing diabetes at the Muhimbili National Hospital’s traditional medicine research centre.
WHO to study Loliondo medicine
http://medicalkenya.co.ke/2011/05/who-to-study-loliondo-medicine/
Saturday, 30 April 2011 22:36
By Mussa Juma
The Citizen Reporter
Loliondo. The ministry of Health and Social Welfare has designated four hospitals to pilot the first phase of a research to investigate the efficacy of a miracle cure offered by Pastor Ambilikile Mwasapila.
Tanzania medical experts will work with their counterparts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to study the cupful ‘miracle cure’ which the pastor says cures any ailment including cancer, HIV/Aids diabetes and ulcers.
Thousands of Tanzanians and other people from neighbouring Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda have for the last two months been flocking to the remote Samunge village where the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) retired cleric is conducting his services.According four scientists who spoke to The Citizen on Sunday yesterday at Samunge, the investigation would take at least 12 months to complete.
They ate Prof Charles Wambebe from WHO, Dr Budeba Sylvester from the Health ministry, Dr Georges Shemdowe of the Commission for Science and Technology and Mr Hamis Malebo of the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR).
Dr Sylvester named the designated hospitals which will be used for researching the “cure“ and study developments on people who have taken the ‘cup’ as the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI), Mount Meru Regional Hospital in?Arusha and Wasso District Hospital in Ngorongoro.
“People who have taken the mugariga dose will be routinely checked in these hospitals and researches will be conducted to check the efficacy of the medicine,” said Dr Sylvester.
He said a mobile laboratory where people’s health status will be checked before and after taking mugariga to establish the effectiveness of the cure will soon be sent to Samunge to help the research work.A chemist from NIMRI, Mr Hamis Malebo, said they have already taken samples of the medicine. These will be experimented in rats to check efficacy.
“We, as researchers, have approached many people for experiment. “We are going to first use human beings by testing them before taking the medicine and we shall do a follow-up on them for not less than a year. We will also use rats in our investigations,” said Malebo.
Observations by this paper revealed yesterday that queuing of vehicles, which at one time were 50 kilometres, was now easing.Most vehicles currently heading to Samunge are from neighbouring Kenya following the government announcement that the services will resume on May 2.
This would be after a weeklong suspension following the death of Rev. Mwasapila’s son, Jackson Mwasapila, earlier this week.However, the cars are projected to increase as more people are expected to flock to Loliondo after Easter holidays. At least 50 vehicles could be seen in Samunge yesterday.
Since word spread two months ago of the pastor’s supposed ability to cure chronic diseases, patients have been flocking to the village. Some were taken from hospitals by relatives to try their luck in Samunge.Many people have testified to have been cured by the Mugariga concoction. But many have also died before seeing him and after taking his concoction.
‘Magic herb’ is well known to Kenyan scientists
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/+Magic+herb++is+well+known+to+Kenyan+scientists+/-/1056/1135354/-/jnh894z/-/index.html
File | NATION Scientists have linked this plant, known as as
mtandamboo in Kiswahili, to the Loliondo ‘wonder drug’. Studies show extracts
from the plant can cure various diseases, including a drug-resistant form of
herpes virus and chest pains.
Posted Tuesday, March 29
2011 at 22:00
By GATONYE GATHURA gathura@ke.nationmedia.com
The ‘magic herb’ that has made thousands of people flock to remote Loliondo village in Tanzania was identified by Kenyan scientists four years ago as a cure for a drug-resistant strain of a sexually transmitted disease.An expert on herbal medicine also said yesterday the herb is one of the most common traditional cures for many diseases. It is known as mtandamboo in Kiswahili and it has been used for the treatment of gonorrhoea among the Maasai, Samburu and Kikuyu.
The Kamba refer to it as mukawa or mutote and use it for chest pains, while the Nandi boil the leaves and bark to treat breast cancer, headache and chest pains.
Four years ago, local researchers turned to the plant for the treatment of a virus that causes herpes. Led by Dr Festus M Tolo of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), the team from the University of Nairobi and the National Museums of Kenya found the herb could provide alternative remedy for herpes infections.
“An extract preparation from the roots of Carissa edulis, a medicinal plant locally growing in Kenya, has exhibited remarkable anti-herpes virus activity for both wild type and drug resistant strains,” they reported in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology.
No negative effects
“The mortality rate for mice treated with extract was also significantly reduced by between 70 and 90 per cent as compared with the infected untreated mice that exhibited 100 per cent mortality.”
The researchers reported that the extract did not have any negative effects on the mice.
Mrs Grace Ngugi, head of economic ethnobotany at the National Museums of Kenya, said the plant was not poisonous as feared earlier.
Further studies have shown the plant to contain ingredients that make it a good diuretic. Diuretics are drugs used to increase the frequency of urination to remove excess fluid in the body, a condition that comes with medical conditions such as congestive heart failure, liver and kidney disease.
Some diuretics are also used for the treatment of high blood pressure. These drugs act on the kidneys to increase urine output, reducing the amount of fluid in the blood, which in turn lowers blood pressure.
A study at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia found the herb was a powerful diuretic. It is found in many parts of the country and is used to treat headache, rheumatism, gonorrhoea, syphilis and rabies, among other diseases.
The Ethiopians tested its potency on mice and found it increased the frequency of urination. This was more so when an extract from the bark of the root was used.
“These findings support the traditional use of Carissa spp. as a diuretic agent,” write the researchers in the Journal of Alternative Medicine.
The Kemri study also isolated other compounds from the herb, including oleuropein, an immune booster, and lupeol. Lupeol, according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin, US, was found to act against cancerous cells in mice.
“We showed that lupeol possesses antitumor-promoting effects in a mouse and should be evaluated further,” wrote Dr Mohammad Saleem, a dermatologist.
Mrs Ngugi said the herb was one of the most prevalent traditional cures and herbalists harvest roots, barks and even the fruits to make concoctions for many diseases.
“Among the Mbeere and Tharaka people where the fruit is called ngawa, the plant is used for the treatment of malaria. The fruits, when ripe, are eaten by both children and adults,” she said.
