Non-utilization Of Bio-resources To Address Health Challenges In Nigeria
Nigeria as the ‘giant of Africa’ we know is endowed with bio-resources hidden in our tropical ecosystem including biologically diverse wild and domesticated crops, herbs and spices with distinct properties such as medicinal and pesticidal characteristics. The importance of these bio-resources as discovered since time immemorial as sources of preventive and curative medicine cannot be neglected. These bio-resource endowments in a developing country like Nigeria are meant to be harnessed and used as seed capital for developing a sustainable basis for the health care system.
Nigeria is faced with many public health challenges. But, the leading cause of disease and death in Nigeria can be implicated with Malaria, lower respiratory infection, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Malaria is most severe in the immunologically naive (Children less than 5 years old) and in pregnant women. The anti-malaria drugs used for first-line treatment of uncomplicated cases appeared to be impotent due to drug resistance. The issue of multidrug resistance is of an epidemiologic threat. This can be stemmed down to abuse/overuse of drugs through self-prescription which is a common practice in Nigeria. The emergence of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases too are of an epidemiologic threat as most drugs used in the treatment of diseases that affect the immune-compromised individuals like in HIV patients are no longer effective. Anti-microbial resistance from non-maintenance of good anti-microbial stewardship in Nigeria has armed these super pathogens with resistant genes that make one or more antimicrobial drugs ineffective. Having faced with these health challenges, it requires the harnessing and development of novel super-drugs to combat these superbugs if the goal of health care for all will be attained.
To address the issue of non-utilization of bio-resources, it requires active participation and implementation of results from intensive research works. This strategy will be of good improvement in the health sector because they will reduce the incidence of multidrug resistance through the discovery of novel drug sources which can serve as alternative medicine and also decrease the cost of treatment through drug administration. For instance, I worked with Candida albicans isolates that are resistant to fluconazole. Since oral azoles like the fluconazole are normally the first-line drug treatment given to patients with Candidiasis. It turned out that some species of this pathogen have already developed resistant genes. We tried harnessing and put to test other bio-sources that may act as potential sources of antifungal drug. It turned out that some of the bio-sources we got and tested them against this superbug worked out. These sources are commonly used in cooking food of which many people use them ignorantly without knowing their nutritional values as well as their antimicrobial efficacy. Imagine extracting the bioactive components from these materials and using them as food supplements/nutraceuticals in accordance with stipulated modalities.
Furthermore, partnering with healers who already know some of these bio-resources but lack the expertise and capital to improve the method of processing, packaging and preserving these resources for future use can proffer solution to some of these health challenges. Some of these pharmaceuticals have their origin stemmed down to a bio-resource that was harnessed and put to good use. For example, the Catharanthus roseus (L.), a plant-drug noted for its antileukemic property and Rauwolfia vomitoria, implicated with antihypertensive, antiarrhythmic and antipsychotic activity were all bio-resources utilized through ethnomedical research, hence, the drug development. By partnering with them, some of these bio-resources can be discovered and standardized making them more effective for the treatment of diseases. It is my utmost desire to join forces with harnessing bio-resources that are potential sources of super-drugs that can annihilate these superbugs thereby addressing some of these health challenges in Nigeria.
