Abstract:

Malaria control has been a challenge around the world for decades. In malaria endemic nations like Sub-Saharan Africa, traditional herbal medicine is the most common option for treating malaria. About 80% of the world's population relies on the use of herbal medicine to treat a variety of diseases, and the use of plant materials in the treatment of illnesses has continuously expanded. This study sought to assess the level of knowledge and attitudes towards the use of traditional medicine in the treatment of malaria in southwest Nigeria. Descriptive design and multistage sampling techniques were utilised. During the first stage, three States were chosen through a balloting process utilising random sampling methods. Four (4) sections of the questionnaire were used to collect sociodemographic data and other factors that were important to the achievement of the given objectives. The findings revealed that 31.7% of the respondents had inadequate knowledge about traditional medicine for treatment of malaria. 20.8% had positive perceptions to the common herbal medicines used in the treatment of malaria. Majority stated malaria is not a serious disease to be concerned about, and that traditional medicine is superior to modern medicine. Conclusively, the results highlighted the respondent’s lack knowledge on the consequences of traditional medicine. A strong correlation between traditional medicine uses and perception in the treatment of malaria in southwest Nigeria was also discovered. The result of the study prompted a recommendation that the public health department of the ministry of health need to intensify campaign against use of unapproved herbs for treatment of malaria.

References:

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[4] Singh, S. & Singh, R. (2014). Herbal Medicinal Treatment of Malaria in Aliero Local Government Area, Kebbi, Nigeria. Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies. Volume: 2, Issue: 2. Pp.117-126 ISSN: 2320-3862 Online Available at www.plantsjournal.com.

[5] Maximus, M. T., Bambang, P. E.W. & Mangestuti, A., (2018). Plants used in traditional medicine for treatment of malaria by Tetun ethnic people in West Timor Indonesia. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine. Vol. 11(11): pp.630-637 https://doi.org10.4103/1995-7645.246339.

[6] Mbah, G.O., and Ekweanya, N.M. (2019). Analysis of Utilization of Traditional Medicine for the Treatment of Malaria among Rural Farmers in Abia State, Nigeria. International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB) Vol-4, Issue- 2.

[7] Omagha R, Idowu ET, Alimba, G.C, Otubanj, O.A., and Adeneye, Z.K. (2021) Survey of ethnobotanical cocktails commonly used in the treatment of malaria in southwestern Nigeria. Future Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 7:152.

[8] Beavogui AH, Delamou A, Camara BS, Camara D, Kourouma K, Camara R, Djimde A (2020) Prevalence of malaria and factors associated with infection in children aged 6 months to 9 years in Guinea: results from a national cross-sectional study. Parasite Epidemiol Control 11: e00162. https://doi.org/1 0.1016/j.parepi.2020.e00162.

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[10] Mbah, G.O., and Ekweanya, N.M. (2019). Analysis of Utilization of Traditional Medicine for the Treatment of Malaria among Rural Farmers in Abia State, Nigeria. International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB) Vol-4, Issue- 2.

[11] Okosodo, E. and Sarada, M. (2021). Plants traditionally used in treating malaria, typhoid fever, and related complications in South-Western Nigeria. European Scholar Journal. 2(5).

[12] Beavogui AH, Delamou A, Camara BS, Camara D, Kourouma K, Camara R, Djimde A (2020) Prevalence of malaria and factors associated with infection in children aged 6 months to 9 years in Guinea: results from a national cross-sectional study. Parasite Epidemiol Control 11: e00162. https://doi.org/1 0.1016/j.parepi.2020.e00162.

[13] Adebayo JO, Krettli AU (2010) Potential antimalarials from Nigerian plants: a review. J Ethnopharmacol 133(2):289–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.

[14] Oreagba et al. (2011) Herbal medicine use among urban residents in Lagos, Nigeria. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine.11:117.

[15] Karunamoorthi, K., Jegajeevanram, K., Vijayalakshmi, J. & Mengistie, E. (2012). Traditional Medicinal Plants: A Source of Phytotherapeutic
Modality in Resource-Constrained Health Care Settings. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine 18(1) 67-74 SAGE. https://doi/10.1177/2156587212460241.

[16] Joseph, A., Nestor, G., Mark, A., and Vincent, B. O., (2017). Malaria in Pregnancy: A Demographic and Clinical Surveillance at Mother and Child Hospital Ondo, Southwestern, Nigeria. Journal of Prevention & Infection Control. 2017, 3:1.

[17] Eze, B, Chuka-Okosa, C & Uche, J. (2013). Traditional eye medicine uses by newly presenting ophthalmic patients to a teaching hospital in south-eastern Nigeria: Socio-demographic and clinical correlates. Biomedical Centre Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

[18] Yuan, H.; Ma, Q.; Ye, L.; Piao, G. The traditional medicine and modern medicine from natural products. Molecules 2016, 21, 559.

[19] Singh, S. & Singh, R. (2014). Herbal Medicinal Treatment of Malaria in Aliero Local Government Area, Kebbi, Nigeria. Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies. Volume: 2, Issue: 2. Pp.117-126 ISSN: 2320-3862 Online Available at www.plantsjournal.com.

[20] Suellen, L., Odedina, S., Agwai, I., Ojengbede O., Huo, and Olopade, O. (2020). Traditional medicine usage among adult women in Ibadan, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study.

[21] Okosodo, E. and Sarada, M. (2021). Plants traditionally used in treating malaria, typhoid fever, and related complications in South-Western Nigeria. European Scholar Journal. 2(5).

[22] Ogbuehi IH, Ebong OO, (2015). Traditional Medicine Treatment of Malaria in Onitsha, Southeast Nigeria. Greener Journal of Medical Sciences, 5(1):011-018.

Abstract:

The adolescence state is the progressive transition from childhood to adulthood. They have specific needs which vary with gender, life circumstances, and socioeconomic level. In this stage, they suffer from various forms of problems and conflicts, which ultimately impair normal development and move to a depressive state. This study assessed the level of well-being among school-going adolescents in the south region of Tamilnadu; The uni-variable, descriptive- cross-sectional research design was adopted. Through the convenient sampling technique,120 school-going adolescents responded to the adolescent’s well-being questionnaire (11-16 years) through online Google forms. The collected data were analyzed through the SPSS package. In the results, the majority of school-going adolescents (77%) were depressed and there is a significant association found between gender and grade (P= 0.05%). The nursing fraternities of community and public health nurses and stakeholders in the community take the initiation of remedial measures to support and promote the mental health of adolescents.

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[20] Steinmayr R, Wirthwein L, Modler L and Barry M. (2019) Development of Subjective Well-Being in Adolescence. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 16, 3690 doi:10.3390/ijerph16193690.

Abstract:

Concern among health professionals has been raised by the ongoing rise in the prevalence of malaria in recent years. Herbal treatments have been deemed the most popular form of traditional medicine in Africa and a high percentage used it for malaria treatment. Poor health care services with unaffordable malaria have been a major barrier to malaria control. This study investigated the use and effectiveness of traditional medicine in treatment of malaria in Osun State, Nigeria. 15 people with malaria across the three senatorial districts of Osun State were selected, using snow balling sampling techniques. Experimental design was utilised to assess the level of knowledge on malaria. Descriptive survey was used to assess the use of traditional medicine, and true experiments to test efficacy of herbal medicine. This study found that respondents have inadequate knowledge of traditional medicine for treatment of malaria and lack adequate knowledge that anopheles mosquito cause malaria. However, use of traditional medicine is high among respondents, with most of the listed herbs achieving a significant point for mean (2.5). Majority of respondents either have malaria parasites hibernated and experience malaria relapse later or the herbal medicine used were ineffective in the first place. The effectiveness of these combined herbs is also dependent on the intensity of the malaria infection. The study concluded that traditional medicine is effective among just in a few of the respondents, who combined, prepared herbs appropriately and took it as prescribed by experienced herbs experts.

Keywords; Malaria, Treatment of malaria, Herbal medicine.

References:

[1] Uzochukwu B S, Onwujekwe E O, Onoka C A and Ughasoro M D. (2008). Rural- urban differences in maternal responses to fever in Southeast Nigeria. 2008 [Online]. Available at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov.

[2] Ashley EA, Dhorda M, Fairhurst RM, Amaratunga C, Lim P, Suon S, Sopha C (2014) Spread of artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. N Engl J Med 371(5):411–423. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1314981.

[3] World Health Organization (2020) World Malaria Report 2020. World Health Organization, Geneva. https://doi.org/10.30875/60123dd4-en.

[4] WHO (2013). WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014–2023. Zlatković, B.K., Bogosavljević, S.S., Radivojević, A.R. and Pavlović, M.A. (2014). Traditional use of the native medicinal plant resource of Mt. Rtanj (Eastern Serbia): Ethnobotanical evaluation and comparison. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 151: 704-713.

[5] Ashley EA, Dhorda M, Fairhurst RM, Amaratunga C, Lim P, Suon S, Sopha C (2014) Spread of artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. N Engl J Med 371(5):411–423. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1314981.

[6] Maximus, M. T., Bambang, P. E.W. & Mangestuti, A., (2018). Plants used in traditional medicine for treatment of malaria by Tetun ethnic people in West Timor Indonesia. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine. Vol. 11(11): pp.630-637 https://doi.org10.4103/1995-7645.246339.

[7] Alebie, G., Urga, B. & Worku, A., (2017). Systematic review on traditional medicinal plants used for the treatment of malaria in Ethiopia: trends and perspectives. Malaria Journal, vol 16:307 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-017-1953-2.

[8] Beavogui AH, Delamou A, Camara BS, Camara D, Kourouma K, Camara R, Djimde A (2020) Prevalence of malaria and factors associated with infection in children aged 6 months to 9 years in Guinea: results from a national cross-sectional study. Parasite Epidemiol Control 11: e00162. https://doi.org/1 0.1016/j.parepi.2020.e00162.

[9] Eze, B, Chuka-Okosa, C & Uche, J. (2013). Traditional eye medicine use by newly presenting ophthalmic patients to a teaching hospital in south-eastern Nigeria: Socio-demographic and clinical correlates. Biomedical Centre Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

[10] Abdullahi, A., and Van Zyl-Schalekamp, C. Seneka, A. (2013). Perceived Threat of Malaria and the Use of Insecticide Treated Bed Nets in Nigeria. African Sociological Review 17(1)1-8.

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[13] Maximus, M. T., Bambang, P. E.W. & Mangestuti, A., (2018). Plants used in traditional medicine for treatment of malaria by Tetun ethnic people in West Timor Indonesia. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine. Vol. 11(11): pp.630-637 https://doi.org10.4103/1995-7645.246339.

[14] Mbah, G.O., and Ekweanya, N.M. (2019). Analysis of Utilization of Traditional Medicine for the Treatment of Malaria among Rural Farmers in Abia State, Nigeria. International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB) Vol-4, Issue- 2.

[15] Adebayo JO, Krettli AU (2010) Potential antimalarials from Nigerian plants: a review. J Ethnopharmacol 133(2):289–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.

[16] Karunamoorthi, K., Jegajeevanram, K., Vijayalakshmi, J. & Mengistie, E. (2012). Traditional Medicinal Plants: A Source of Phytotherapeutic Modality in Resource-Constrained Health Care Settings. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine 18(1) 67-74 SAGE. https://doi/10.1177/2156587212460241.

[17] WHO, (2000a). Traditional and Modern Medicine: Harmonising the two Approaches. Western Pacific Region. Geneva: World Health Organisation.

[18] Joseph, A., Nestor, G., Mark, A., and Vincent, B. O., (2017). Malaria in Pregnancy: A Demographic and Clinical Surveillance at Mother and Child Hospital Ondo, Southwestern, Nigeria. Journal of Prevention & Infection Control. 2017, 3:1.

[19] Singh, S. & Singh, R. (2014). Herbal Medicinal Treatment of Malaria in Aliero Local Government Area, Kebbi, Nigeria. Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies. Volume: 2, Issue: 2. Pp.117-126 ISSN:
2320-3862 Online Available at www.plantsjournal.com.

[20] Malaria-carrying mosquitoes bite night and day. (2022). Nature, 605(7911), 592–592. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01356-0.