Patients seeking medical services at Mbagathi Level Four Hospital will have an option of using traditional medicine following a move by Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) to incorporate traditional medicine at the facility.

Kemri acting Chief Executive Officer and Director-General, Prof Elijah Songok, said the state corporation has been leading in the quest to bring herbal medicine to the mainstream so that they can be used together with conventional medicine to remedy various diseases.

Speaking in Eldoret on Saturday during a visit to the Eldoret branch of Kemri at Daima Towers, Prof Songok said the research institution has entered into an MoU with the hospital to establish a traditional medicine research centre that offers alternative medicines through traditional herbs.

The C.E.O, who was in the company of the National Assembly’s Committee on Health, led by its chairman Robert Pukose, said the herbal medicine department at Mbagathi hospital will be working hand-in-hand with Kemri conventional laboratory to offer alternative medication through traditional medicine.

“At Mbagathi Hospital, we have a Kemri facility (that will) start piloting the use of traditional medicines to patients who prefer (them),” said Songok.

Pilot facility

Mbagathi Herbal Centre will be a pilot project that will establish a side-by-side facility for traditional medicines to work together with a facility for conventional medicine because of national demand especially for non-communicable diseases.

He revealed that the pilot facility will help in treating non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension and other diseases whose drugs are rare.

Global momentum

The move has been hailed by herbal doctors across the country terming it as long overdue. Shadrack Moimet of Koibatek Herbal Medicine Clinic said the decision should have been made a long time ago.

“This is a good move but Kemri must work with experienced genuine herbal medicine dealers through decentralising the services in the entire country to incorporate all communities who value traditional medicine,” added Moimet.

The medic further said that for the project to succeed, Kemri must embrace the input of genuine experienced herbalists through public participation. He cautioned against side-lining traditional herbalists in the operations of the Centre at Mbagathi.

The journey towards embracing herbal medicine globally gained momentum in the mid-1970s when the World Health Organisation (WHO) started a drive to promote accessible primary care by integrating traditional medicine into the state system.

Kenyans hope that through legal involvement by enforcing detailed standards and controls and applying the framework for licensing and disciplining traditional healers included in the Health Act 2017, herbal medicine will be safe for consumers.