When the stinging nettle (Igisura) healed her father of liver disease (hepatitis) a while back, Janvière Ingabire picked interest in the magic herb.

She went a step further when she decided to preserve the herb by growing it as a vegetable plant before she started processing it into juice, wine and flour, which has therapeutic property.

The 28-year old founder of the Gasabo District-based Igisura Company Ltd engaged in cultivating the plant after completing her secondary school studies in 2015.

Currently, she has about a two-hectare plantation of the herb. She started the juice and wine production process in February this year.

"Igisura cured my father of a liver disease; as a result, I developed a special attachment to it,” she told The New Times. "We add honey or fruit to its juice to enrich it with nutrients,” she said.

Daniel Gafaranga, the president of AGA Rwanda Network, the federation of traditional healers in the country, said herbal medicine has proved to be efficient in curing various diseases such as hepatitis and skin ulcers (open wounds).

He revealed that they have since developed a medicine called Ingona Izirusha Amenyo [loosely translated to mean ‘the crocodile with the sharpest teeth], which cures Amoebiasis.

Also known as amoebic dysentery, Amoebiasis is a parasitic infection of the intestines resulting from contaminated food or water, or poor sanitary conditions.

"We will be working with researchers at the National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA) to ensure the efficacy and safety of the medicine.

"We want to be producing medicine that bears guidelines on dosage, manufacture and expiry dates, just as it is the case in places like China, Malaysia and India,” Gafaranga said.

Efficiency, regulation

Dr Marie Jeanne Mukazayire, Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industries Division Manager at NIRDA, said herbal medicines have been used in medical practice for thousands of years and have made a great contribution in the health sector.

A majority of the population in developing countries, she said, heavily relies on herbal and traditional medicines to meet their health needs. 

Mukazayire pointed out that the attention paid by health authorities to the use of herbal and traditional medicines has increased considerably, both because they are often the only medicine available in less developed areas and because they are becoming a popular alternative medicine in more developed areas.

However, she said, in Rwanda, the traditional health practitioners are not well organized, with some of the enterprises operating illegally.

Many, she added, do not follow adequate procedures while processing herbal medicines and, therefore, their products cannot be competitive on both local and international markets as they do not meet the required standards. 

"To come up with a sustainable solution, NIRDA has been contributing toward the development of Phytomedicines Value Chain by standardising traditional medicines production process, which is a priority aspect if we are to improve quality, safety and efficacy of traditional medicine products available on the local market,” Mukazayire told The New Times.

The official observed that NIRDA is working on a project which will see small Phytomedicine processing units set up to develop herbal and traditional remedies for industrial production.

This will help improve traditional medicine from plants by ensuring quality in the processing, regulating dosage, standardising production process, supporting people to commercialise medicinal plants and herbal medicine and make the sector lucrative and competitive, she added.

AGA’s Gafaranga said: "We urgently need a law that regulates traditional herbal medicine in the country.”

Speaking to The New Times, the Minister for Health, Dr Diane Gashumba, said her ministry was currently reviewing the final draft of the proposed legislation on traditional medicines before it is taken to parliament for consideration.

‘The law might be in place by the end of the year,” she said, adding, "Many research projects have been undertaken on traditional medicines with positive findings. But a lot still needs to be done to ensure safety and efficiency.”

Local traditional healers have been looking for some Rwf416 million to implement a project designed to restore an estimated 700 endangered medicinal plants across the country.

They say they want to have a botanic garden of at least two hectares in each of the country’s 30 districts. 

AGA Rwanda network has over 3,000 registered traditional healers, while there are about 14,000 traditional doctors countrywide.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw