DR. IDOWU OLAWALE

My foray into medicine
Dr. Idowu Olawale is a herbal practitioner based in Lagos. He speaks on the efficacy of herbs in treating ailments and his foray into the profession.

How did you get into herbal medicine?

I came into herbal medicine out of personal experience. I was privileged to have been born into the family of herbalists, but because of the superstition and mystery created into the practice, it became repulsive to my father. He stopped practicing. And as a result of western education, we didn’t consider it something to do, a no go area I should say.
I took ill in 1989 and that changed my perception because no orthodox medicine helped in any way, and I had recourse to herbal medicine.
They took me to all the notable hospitals in Europe and America all but to no avail. The sickness persisted. So, I told those taking care of me to take me to my country that I do not want to die in a
foreign land. Today, I say thank God for bringing me to Nigeria because I would have died. There was no way I could have made it. While trying to board the plane that brought me back to the country, the doctor gave me injections to sedate me because the pain was too much for me to bear.
I got to know about herbs in the United States when I met Mark Hughes of Herbalife in 1997 and I came back to Nigeria I 1999. Then I went to Lagos State Board, but to my utmost surprise, what I thought to be new was in the country.

Are you a member of any herbal medicine association?

We have an association, at the instance of the Federal Ministry of Health established the National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP). So, it’s existing at the instance of the former Health Minister, Mrs. Adenike Grange in all 36 states of the federation.

What do you want the government to do for the association?

The government has been responsive, but I still want them to integrate traditional health practice into the national health care delivery by writing another memo to all the organizations that are involved like the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), so that they can accept us. We want to become primary health provider in the scheme. Each state and local government should identify their practitioners, train and give them accreditation so that they can be used to support primary healthcare delivery. Qualified ones can even become civil servants who will not charge exorbitant rates. The registered traditional practitioners on herbal
medicine should be integrated as civil servants. The government should put them on its payroll. We should be integrated in the area of work force and medicine.
The former commissioner for Health, Lagos, Dr. Leke Pitan and Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi, Chairman Lagos Traditional MedicineBoard, made the move for that to be done. The proposed regulation by National Food Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC) would be very difficult because of the money involved. It is too prohibitive. It should be free registration by NAFDAC like that of the bakers and in accordance to Herbal Doctor Magazine volume 2 No.3 Edition.

What are the major contrasts between orthodox and traditional medicine?

The orthodox is trained for emergency cases and surgery while herbal is not into such. Herbal medicine is good for chronic diseases management.
This is for those who have used various therapies with no result.these are the people who are vulnerable to charlatans and quacks. The healthcare delivery system is not well defined in the country, because if the structure of the delivery system is strictly adhered to, the deathrate will greatly reduce. They carry the primary health problem straight to Lagos University Hospital (LUTH) and we live in a country where everybody knowls what to use. Orthodox medical practitioners are learned while 95 per cent of herbal practitioners are unlettered.

Have you made any feat in the profession since you started?

Yes, I have researched into various drugs and at the moment, I have a product that heals diabetes. What to do is drink the herb judiciously and the healing process is on.

What advice would you give those patronizing herbal medicine?

Medicine is medicine, either orthodox or traditional. You are free to make your choice. None is greater than the other. They are both good medicines. However, if you want to combine the two, meet the
doctors in the professions to work as a team, not independently. For example, a herbal practitioner should explain the medical composition of his drug, otherwise, there may be complications whereby an ulcer patient also has hypertension and diabetes and there are drugs which a diabetic patient can use, but ulcer patient can’t.