Use of Traditional Medicines in the Management of HIV/AIDS
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Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine BioMed Central Research Open Access Use of traditional medicines in the management of HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in Tanzania: a case in the Bukoba rural district Daniel P Kisangau*1,2, Herbert VM Lyaruu1, Ken M Hosea3 and CosamCJoseph4 Address: 1Department of Botany, University of Dar es Salaam, PO Box 35060, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2Department of Chemistry, University of Bielefeld, PO Box 10 01 31 – 3350, Bielefeld, Germany, 3Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, PO Box 35060, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and 4Department of Chemistry, University of Dar es Salaam, PO Box 35061, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Email: Daniel P Kisangau* - [email protected]; Herbert VM Lyaruu - [email protected]; Ken M Hosea - [email protected]; Cosam C Joseph - [email protected] * Corresponding author Published: 10 July 2007 Received: 9 March 2007 Accepted: 10 July 2007 Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2007, 3:29 doi:10.1186/1746-4269-3-29 This article is available from: http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/3/1/29 © 2007 Kisangau et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: Ethnobotanical surveys were carried out to document herbal remedies used in the management of HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in Bukoba Rural district, Tanzania. The district is currently an epicenter of HIV/AIDS and although over 90% of the population in the district relies on traditional medicines to manage the disease, this knowledge is impressionistic and not well documented. The HIV/AIDS opportunistic conditions considered during the study were Tuberculosis (TB), Herpes zoster (Shingles), Herpes simplex (Genital herpes), Oral candidiasis and Cryptococcal meningitis. Other symptomatic but undefined conditions considered were skin rashes and chronic diarrhea. Methods: An open-ended semi-structured questionnaire was used in collecting field information. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the ethnobotanical data collected. Factor of informant consensus (Fic) was used to analyze the ethnobotanical importance of the plants. Results: In the present study, 75 plant species belonging to 66 genera and 41 families were found to be used to treat one or more HIV/AIDS related infections in the district. The study revealed that TB and oral candidiasis were the most common manifestations of HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections affecting most of the population in the area. It unveils the first detailed account of ethnomedical documentation of plants focusing the management of HIV/AIDS related infections in the district. Conclusion: It is concluded that the ethnopharmacological information reported forms a basis for further research to identify and isolate bioactive constituents that can be developed to drugs for the management of the HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections. Background provide health coverage for over 80% of the world popu- According to WHO [1], traditional medicine continues to lation, especially in the developing world. In many Afri- Page 1 of 8 (page number not for citation purposes) Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2007, 3:29 http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/3/1/29 can countries including Tanzania, traditional healers play Methods a crucial role of providing primary health care including The study area taking care of people living with emerging diseases such as Bukoba rural district (Fig. 1) is among six administrative HIV/AIDS [2,3]. In 2006, almost two thirds (63%) of all districts forming Kagera region in the Lake Victoria Basin persons infected with HIV/AIDS in the world are living in in Tanzania. The district borders Uganda to the North, sub-Saharan Africa [4]. HIV/AIDS pandemic is currently Lake Victoria to the East, Waters of Mara region to the the most socio-economic challenge that faces Tanzania as South, Muleba district to the South East and Karagwe dis- it affects mostly the young and most economically pro- trict to the West. It is composed of 168 villages in 41 wards ductive population [5]. This translates to loss of skills, tal- and 6 divisions, and a total population of 395,130 [9]. ents, expertise and man-hours. Majority of the people The district is predominantly occupied by the Haya tribe living with HIV/AIDS are susceptible to fungal and bacte- who speak Kihaya language. Agriculture is the economic rial opportunistic infections that result from immunosup- mainstay of the district and accounts for 50% of the pression [Bii, 2001-unpublished abstract]. These Region's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The main crops infections have been reported from the early days of the are green bananas, coffee, beans, cotton and cassava. HIV/AIDS pandemic [6] and are one of the leading causes Other crops include sugarcane, sweet potatoes, vegetables, of deaths in Tanzania and worldwide [7]. Treatment of millet and sorghum [9]. The population-Doctor ratio such infections is therefore one of the most important fac- stands at 95,000:1, the lowest of all the six districts in tors for management of HIV/AIDS cases. However, pov- Kagera region [5,9], indicating a severe inadequacy of erty, high cost of life-enhancing drugs, resistance to health personnel. conventional medicine and the serious side effects associ- ated with antiretroviral drugs are the main draw backs to Ethnobotanical surveys the use of conventional therapies. Ethnobotanical surveys were carried out in four out of the six divisions in the district. These were Kiamtwara, More than 60% of the population in Tanzania depends on Misenye, Katerero and Rubale divisions. With a Prior traditional medicines for the management of various dis- Informed Consent (PIC), authentic and well known eases including HIV/AIDS [8]. Due to scarcity of drugs, herbal practitioners were identified through Participatory many people living with HIV/AIDS opt for traditional Rural Appraisal (PRA) approach, with the assistance of health services for the control of the disease. Besides, the local administrative officers. They were then interviewed Lake Victoria basin which harbors the study area and the using semi-structured open-ended questionnaires [10]. Great lakes region of East and Central Africa are now con- Interviews were conducted in the local Kihaya language sidered part of the global epicenter for HIV/AIDS, with except for a few cases where the respondents were erudite 50% of bed occupancy in hospitals with AIDS patients in and could understand Kiswahili. Information regarding the mid-term to terminal stages of the disease [Aduma, the local names of the plant species, parts used, prepara- 2001-unpublished abstract]. Furthermore, in this region tion, administration and the disease condition treated was more than any other in Tanzania, the HIV/AIDS pan- documented as shown in table 1. The practitioners were demic has had the worst impact as it was the first to show also used as guides in field excursions to collect plant a significant number of cases in the early 1980's, so that voucher specimens which were identified by Mr. Sulei- the disease has had the longest history in the region [5,9]. man Haji and Mr. Frank Mbago of the University of Dar es It is therefore reasonable to assume that the devastating Salaam, Department of Botany. The voucher specimens impact of HIV/AIDS pandemic in the region and in were later coded and deposited at Department of Botany Bukoba rural district in particular, coupled with the severe herbarium, University of Dar es Salaam (Table 1). Factor shortage of health personnel might have forced the inhab- of informant consensus (Fic) was used to analyze the eth- itants to develop coping mechanisms by adopting alterna- nobotanical importance of the reported plant species tive sources of primary health care, one of which has been according to Schlage et al. [11] and Owuor and Kisangau the use of herbal therapies. [12]. Fic gives the relationship between the number of use- reports in each category (nur) and number of taxa used Even though there are a good number of reports on tradi- (nt): tional uses of plants to treat various diseases in the coun- try, knowledge on herbal remedies used to manage HIV/ Fic = (nur - nt/nur - 1) AIDS in particular is scanty, impressionistic and not well documented. Consequently, this paper presents the first Knowledge on HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections detailed account of the status and use of traditional med- During the interviews, the symptoms of various HIV/AIDS icines in the management of HIV/AIDS opportunistic opportunistic infections were described to the healers so infections in Tanzania. as to enable them give the appropriate plant species they usually use to manage the infections [13,4,14-16] (Table Page 2 of 8 (page number not for citation purposes) Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2007, 3:29 http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/3/1/29 30000 0 375000 N # # Kashenye # Minziro# # # # # # # # # # # Bushasha # # # # # Bubale ## # # # # # Mweyanjare# #Rubila # # # # # # # # # ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Kibumbiro# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Bukoba Town # # Kyakakera# # Nongo# # # # # # # # Lake# Ikimba # # 9 0 8 0 # Lake Victoria 2 50 # Rubare 05 2 # # 0 8 # 0 9 Kabirizi # Butakia# # # # # # # # 30000 0 375000 LEG EN D # Village Roads Loose S urface Road Other Road TA NZA NIA Lake B u k o b a R u ra l D is tric t (S tud y A re a ) 10000 0 10000 20000 Meters AFigure map showing 1 the location of Bukoba rural district in Tanzania A map showing the location of Bukoba rural district in Tanzania. 2). The Opportunistic infections considered in the present Results study were Tuberculosis (TB) locally called Ndwala enkuri, A total of thirty herbal practitioners aged between 32 and Oral candidiasis (Mbunya kanua), Cryptococcal meningi- 80 years of age were interviewed during the study.