Green shield: Plant-based solutions in the fight against malaria

“We noticed that there were fewer buzzing mosquitoes in the new grass environment. This treatment does not stop them completely, but it reduces their ability to cry and move from one place to another,” he told Sunday Monitor.

Alobo is one of the legions who have used plant-based medicines in the fight against malaria, the leading cause of death in Uganda.

Periodic droughts and droughts are prevalent in many parts of the country, rearing their ugly head during the country’s two rainy seasons of March-May and August-October. Participants in the fight against malaria say that its persistence comes from the shrinking envelope of the source as well as the virus that seems to be resistant to (mosquito) and the parasites that cause malaria (plasmodium).

In two separate events in mid-October, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the minister of health, and Dr Diana Atwine, permanent secretary in the ministry of health, expressed fear of over-reliance on malaria vaccines that Dr Michael Baganizi, the injection head in it. The ministry says it will start in October.

“Now we see malaria affecting young people in addition to our children. The vaccine we get only protects 50 percent. That means it is not witchcraft,” Dr. Aceng told the House on April 20.

This happened after Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, who is also the sponsor of the Parliamentary Forum on Malaria, led the lawmakers and other stakeholders on a malaria tour in Kampala. The trip was aimed at raising awareness of the country where the burden of disease remains high from tropical diseases.

Uganda is also using Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) to control the tropical disease but faces opposition in other areas. For example, in March 2019, the police in Butebo District learned that Fred Tuwache had set fire to his house in protest of the state IRS. He is reported to have said that the chemicals sent by the Ministry of Health are toxic to animals and humans.

Mr Tayebwa, during the malaria walk event in April, pointed out that other supply measures such as treatment were already draining the government’s coffers with little results.

“This treatment will not work. Treatment is very expensive. The money we spend to treat malaria is very high, yet we lose many young people,” he said about this disease which in 2015 had 42 percent infection among children under five years.

The Deputy Speaker of the House has also confirmed the long-standing fear about the abuse of long-term treated nets bought by donors, which are freely distributed to families to protect Ugandans against mosquito bites. Ugandans are used to using pesticides, but Dr Atwine warns that they “have effects on the lungs”, adding that the risk “gets[ting] an accumulated dose of poison.”

It is because of this situation that the Government is pushing for the use of plants in the fight against malaria, something that the Opposition is also promoting. On April 19, Christine Kaaya Nakimwero, the shadow minister for Climate and Environment, together with Speaker of the House Anita Har’a gave their unwavering support. About a year ago, on April 20, Dr. Atwine also endorsed a plant-based approach.

“We need to find ways to improve our environment through the National Forestry Authority. We want to see them advocating for trees in every family. We can plant trees that repel mosquitoes, and it’s very easy,” said a top health department official.

As a result, Dr Peter Mbabazi, the co-ordinator of multi-sectoral finance in the same sector, has listed a series of plants that the government has encouraged Ugandans to grow, use and use. He named lemongrass, rosemary, lemon balm, garlic, onion and peppermint. He also listed basil, eucalyptus, lavender, and Lantana Camara.

The plants mentioned above emit a scent that tends to repel mosquitoes that could transmit and increase malaria in the community.

Dr Jimmy Opigo, the director of the Malaria Control Program in the Ministry of Health, told Sunday Monitor that the government’s appeal for the adoption of herbicides is ongoing, with the project continuing with support of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

“We strongly recommend repellents. We worked with children [bed] workers and CSOs, especially Rotarians, so that while we decorate our compounds, we make sure that medicinal plants go together with small plants as well as food crops. Plants have chemicals in them,” he revealed, adding, “It’s on the rise, people are using it because plant products are easier. Many of these repellents contain citronella oil, which is good for the skin when used.”

Dorothy Namubiru, the public image chairperson of the Rotary Club of Kampala Central (District 9213), said her organization uses the “Plant Your Balance Initiative” to promote, among others, environmental conservation and education. Through this program, Rotarians maintain a tree nursery where they find plants to donate to the community. Distributed plants include eucalyptus trees that have mosquito repellent effects. Rotarians have since moved to schools, including Wanyange Girls Secondary School in Jinja district where they went in July.

Dr Opigo said that this plant method is not new at all as it was once used by the indigenous people who smeared the walls of the houses with dung which is believed to have anti-plant properties.

“They used to apply it two to four times a year, which was called home decoration to control malaria, so they applied it in the house as IRS,” he said. .

The government has embarked on a campaign to promote this remedy in other parts of the country.

“This is being well received in West Nile, the eastern parts, and Kampala areas,” Dr Opigo said, adding that the Ministry of Health is “trying to include it in cosmetics and soap. When the time comes it goes, most bath soaps will have them. You shower, and the smell of the oil stays on the skin so that [mosquito] insects do not reach you”.

This refers to the power and plants that have a high capacity to deal with mosquitoes and malaria. Several types of research show that there is a benefit to this method. In a study conducted in the south-eastern part of Nigeria, Owerri, lemongrass was tested as a mosquito repellent and used with other oils to make ointments applied to the body parts of 12 participants. showed that lemongrass oil has the ability to repel mosquitoes, with 74 percent protection against mansonia mosquitoes for more than two hours.

Another study titled Natural Plant-Based Mosquito Repellents: A Potential Complementary Tool for the Delivery of Malaria Control and Eradication in Zimbabwe is a field of research that needs to include plant-based approaches to existing vector control measures.

Knowing that fighting malaria requires a collective effort, the Government of Uganda has allowed private players to identify the cure. One of them is the owner of Roperfree, Yusuf Kawoya Kasumba, who uses his Kampala-based shop to extract products from lemongrass, eucalyptus and carrier oil.

Similarly, Swan Serenity, another Ugandan home uses eucalyptus extracts to make repellents that are used as body and air sprays.