The Government has been petitioned to consider setting up a laboratory specifically tailored to analyse the effectiveness of alternative medicine to cure ailments.
A Nyeri County based herbalist David Kimondo argued that the facility would speed up the process and enable local herbalists receive their results within a short time.
Kimondo said this would open doors for them to start administering their products to patients instead of waiting for a very long time before their results are released from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and other government agencies.
Speaking last Tuesady at his Mweiga plant where he processes traditional medicine and cooking oils, the herbalist pleaded with Kenyans not to ignore alternative medicine in favour of the conventional ones.
“The herbal medicine we process is even more potent than the modern ones,” Kimondo said.
Kimondo dismissed perceptions that herbalists are witches adding that from time immemorial, they have played an important role in curing people of various ailments including those that have baffled modern science.
He explained that the African perception on low quality African products is the major drawback to their works that can supplement government efforts in the provision of health care.
“They have been brainwashed that everything that comes from Africa is evil and everything from the whites is Godly and it’s the best,” he added.
Kimondo lauds the government for recognising the herbalists and involving him to represent his Nyeri herbalists, in a stakeholder consultative meeting on potential use of locally developed natural health products to boost health immunity against Covid-19 at Isaak INN Hotel in Embu in November last year.
The herbalist asked the government to set aside a test laboratory for the herbal products in bid to speed up the development for covid-19 cure and vaccine.
Interestingly, Kimondo claimed to have been diagnosed with corona virus at Mt Kenya Hospital in Kirinyaga County and that he was placed on supplementary oxygen for 5 days after his condition worsened and developed breathing complications.
He said it was at this point that he decided to give a trial to his herbal products specifically the black seed oil and to his shock after 12 days of infection, his results turned out negative.
Kimondo alleged that some days after his recuperation, his daughter tested positive for the same at Nakuru PGH infecting the virus to her husband and their child.
He prescribed the same medication to the three and he can confirm they have all recovered fully.
The herbalist has been extracting, processing and packing natural oils meant for cooking and ointment purposes from canola, pumpkin, castor, simsim, black seed, white cumin and flax seeds for 15 years.
By Evans Ngatia
