Lemongrass (known as Kisubi in Luganda) is a spice that Christine Alobo usually stores and mixes in her teas every evening. A resident of Sita, Goma Division, Mokono District, Alobo uses lemongrass to spice her sugar-free tea because of its many health benefits.
For a long time, albo thought that lemongrass worked perfectly as a spice. One evening in early May 2022, Tupista Nectende, a friend, allowed her to take another advantage. Alobo, a farmer and midwife, was encouraged to plant lemongrass in her garden and around her house because of its ability to repel mosquitoes. Two years later, Alobo couldn’t be more grateful.
“We noticed that there were fewer fleas around the fresh grass. This treatment doesn’t stop them completely, but it reduces their ability to call and move from one place to another,” she said on Sunday. said the monitor.
Alobo is one of the legions who have deployed herbal medicine in the fight against malaria, a leading cause of death in Uganda.
Intermittent and relapsing fevers are prevalent in most parts of the country, rearing their ugly head during the country’s two rainy seasons of March-May and August-October. Contributors to the fight against malaria attribute its continued decline to the enveloped source as well as to the apparently resistant vector (malaria) and malaria-causing parasite (Plasmodium).
In two separate events in mid-April, Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Essing, and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr. Diana Atwin, expressed their fear of over-reliance on malaria vaccines, Dr. Michael Baganizzi, Director of Immunization . The ministry says it will start in October.
“We are now seeing that malaria is affecting teenagers in addition to our children. The vaccine that we are getting is only 50 percent protective. That means it is not a magic bullet,” Dr. Ising said on April 20. said to Evan.
This was minutes after Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa, who also doubles as the chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum on Malaria, had led lawmakers and other stakeholders on the Malaria Walk in Kampala. The mandate was to raise awareness in a country where the burden of disease remains firmly on tropical diseases.
Uganda is also using indoor residual spraying (IRS) to get a grip on a treatable tropical disease but is facing resistance in places. For example, in March 2019, the police in Butebo district learned that Fred Twachi had burned down his house in protest of the government’s IRS. He reported that the chemicals that the Ministry of Health has deployed are toxic to animals and humans.
Mr Taibwa, during a Malaria Walk event in April, pointed out that other prevention measures such as treatment are already draining government coffers with little results.
“This treatment will not work. The treatment is so expensive. The money we spend on malaria treatment is so much, and yet we lose so many young people.” In 2015, 42 percent of children under the age of five were infected with the disease, he said.
The Deputy Speaker also confirmed long-held fears about the misuse of long-acting insecticides bought by donors, which are distributed freely to households to protect Ugandans against mosquito bites. Ugandans are exposed to insecticides, but Dr Atwin warns that it has “effects on the lungs”, adding that a risk is “getting it”.[ting] A cumulative toxic dose.
It is against this background that the government is pushing for the cultivation of plants in the fight against malaria, something that even the opposition is popularizing. On April 19, the Shadow Minister for Climate and Environment, Christine Kaya Nkimwero, together with Speaker of the House Anita Umong offered their unwavering support. Almost a year ago, on April 20, Dr. Atwin also rallied behind the plant-based approach.
“We have to find ways to improve our environment through the National Forest Service. We want them to be tree advocates in every home. We can plant trees that repel mosquitoes, and it’s very simple. “, said the senior accountant of the Ministry of Health.
Consequently, Dr. Peter Mbabazi, the coordinator of finance and multi-sectoral cooperation in the same ministry, listed a series of plants that the government encouraged Ugandans to grow, use and consume. He named it lemongrass, rosemary, lemon balm, garlic, onion and pepper. He also lists basil, eucalyptus, lavender, and lantana camara.
The plants mentioned above emit odors that tend to repel mosquitoes that otherwise transmit and increase malaria in communities.
The Director of the Malaria Control Program in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Jimmy Opigo, told Sunday Monitor that the demand for anti-vegetatives by the government has accelerated and the campaign with the help of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has been launched.
“We are seriously developing herbicides. We have worked with nurseries [bed] Operators and CSOs, especially Rotarians, so that we beautify our compounds, we ensure that medicinal plants are combined with small plants and food products. Plants have chemicals in them,” he said, adding, “It’s growing, people are using it now because plant-based repellents are friendly. Many of these moisturizers contain citronella oil, which is good for the skin when applied.
Dorothy Namubiru, Public Image Director of the Rotary Club of Kampala Central (District 9213), said her brother was using his “balance initiative” to promote environmental protection and education. Through this program, Rotarians oversee a tree nursery bed from which they obtain plants to deliver to communities. Distributed plants include eucalyptus trees that have anti-mosquito effects. Rotarians have since visited schools, including Wananji Girls’ Secondary School in Jinja District, where they attended in July.
Dr. Opigo said the plant-based method is not entirely new as it was already used by local communities who smeared the walls of their houses with glue believed to have anti-vegetative properties.
“They smell two to four times a year, which is called house decoration to control malaria, so they apply it at home as IRS,” he said.
The government has launched a roll-out campaign to popularize the treatment in other parts of the country.
“It is well taken in West Nile, Eastern parts and Kampala areas,” said Dr Opigo, adding that the Ministry of Health is trying to include it in lotions and bath soaps. Most bath soaps will contain them over time. You take a bath, and the scent of the oil lingers on your skin [mosquito] Insects don’t touch you.”
It speaks to the power and high potential of plants that fight mosquitoes and malaria. Several types of research show that there is potential for behavior. In a study conducted in Owerri, southeastern Nigeria, lemongrass was tested as a mosquito repellent and used with other oils to make a lotion on the body parts of 12 participants. Research has shown that lemongrass oil has mosquito repellent properties, with 74% protection against Mansonia mosquitoes for over two hours.
Another study titled Natural Plant-Based Mosquito Repellents: A Potential Complementary Tool for Malaria Vector Control Interventions and Elimination in Zimbabwe is part of research that calls for incorporating plant-based approaches into existing vector control measures.
Realizing that fighting malaria requires a collective effort, the Ugandan government has allowed private players to popularize the treatment. One of these is Ruperfree owner Yusuf Kawiya Kasumba, who uses the Kampala-based shop to extract ingredients from lemongrass, eucalyptus and carrier oil.
Similarly, another local shop in Uganda, Swan Serenity, uses extracts from eucalyptus to use as a body and air spray.
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