Medicinal plants used in the treatment and prevention of malaria in Cegere Sub-County, Northern Uganda

Abstract

In Uganda, malaria has been ranked as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality with Apac District having one of the highest transmission rates. The objective of this study was to assess the use of medicinal plants in preventing and treating malaria and to determine the traditional concept of malaria in Cegere Sub-County, Apac. A snowball sampling method was used to work through a network of informants. Ninety respondents, including traditional healers, were interviewed using focus group discussions and questionnaires. Twenty plant species from 15 families were used for preventing and treating malaria. Most of the plants were herbs (50%), and leaves (64%) were the most frequently used parts. Schkuhria pinnata (Lam.) Kuntze ex Thell. was the most frequently cited plant for treating malaria, mentioned by 77% of the respondents. Traditionally, malaria was known as atipa and was treated ritually. Fewer medicinal plant species were used to treat malaria in Apac compared to other parts of Uganda.

Introduction

Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito (Batista et al. 2009). Although malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, an estimated 247 million cases were reported globally in 2008 causing nearly a million deaths, mostly of children under 5 years, with 80% of the cases being in Africa (WHO 2013). Malaria is commonly associated with poverty, but it is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development (Batista et al. 2009). As a result of widespread chloroquine and sulphadoxinepyrimethamine resistance, 90% of sub-Saharan African by 2007 (Frosch et al. 2011). Chloroquine resistance was f irst documented in Uganda in 1988 (Kamya et al. 2002). Chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine replaced chloroquine as the first-line recommended therapy for uncomplicated malaria in 2002 (Kamya et al. 2002). Ninety percent of the population in Uganda lives in a high malaria-transmission area, and this creates a heavy burden on the health system (WHO 2013). Malaria in Uganda has been ranked as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in children under five years (WHO 2008). Uganda has some of the highest recorded malaria transmission rates in Africa, particularly in the areas around Lake Kyoga in Central Uganda (Kiwanuka et al. 2008). The Ministry of Health (MoH) officials in Uganda estimated that each person in Apac District on average re Correspondence Godwin Anywar, Protase Rwaburindori, Department of Plant Sciences, Microbiology & Biotechnology” College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, UGANDA. godwinanywar@gmail.com Charlotte I.E.A. van’t Klooster, Joop de Jong, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam (UvA), Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, Building B, room B8.01, 1018 WV Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS. Robert Byamukama, Bernard T. Kiremire§, Department of Chemistry, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, UGANDA. countries adopted policies of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for treatment of uncomplicated malaria