'Agbo', the 'healing' concoctions that are actually making Nigerians sick

Titi Ebire, a 51-year-old fruit seller at Ketu market in Lagos, repeatedly complained to her friends about waist pain.

In late 2022, she learned of a locally prepared herbal concoction, which was sold in an unsealed 100 milliliter bottle.

The mixture, which cost just 0.21 euros, was said to cure all kinds of conditions, such as stomach pain, malarial fever, typhoid fever, hemorrhoids and infections contracted in toilets.

Ebire thought that if he took it, his poor health would be a thing of the past.

But his situation only got worse.

“Five minutes after drinking a spoonful of the concoction, I began to sweat and shake until I fell unconscious.

My children, who were nearby, had to work hard to save me from death,” he says.

Ibire survived the incident and vowed never to take herbal mixtures again, but Taiye Bamidele, a 24-year-old clergyman, was not so lucky.

He died after consuming the deadly concoctions in the Festac area of ​​Lagos on May 16, 2015. This was determined by the autopsy performed on him, says his cousin, who identifies himself only as Bamitale.

According to his story, the deceased drank a cup of a concoction soaked in alcohol to treat his hemorrhoids.

Minutes later, he began to behave strangely until he collapsed to the ground and died.

“The only thing we could do was bury him so that he could rest in peace and warn other family members not to take unauthorized herbal mixtures,” recalls the relative.

Popularly known as

agbo

(medicinal herbs, in the Yoruba language) in southwestern Nigeria, where their consumption is most popular, the concoctions are prepared from a mixture of plant roots, bark and leaves that are soaked in water or alcohol.

Although they are taken for curative purposes, the effect can be the opposite, being especially harmful to the liver and kidneys.

A 2013 study on the reasons why liver patients were admitted to a tertiary hospital in Nigeria determined that the ingestion of herbs and roots was the third risk factor after alcohol consumption and hepatitis B. Toun Memorial Hospital in Ibadan , in the south of the country, warned in an article on its website in 2020 that agbo is one of the main causes of kidney failure.

“They are not free of adverse effects, which may be due to factors such as adulteration, contamination, misidentification, lack of standardization, incorrect preparation and dosage,” it indicated.

“Many Nigerians who consume herbal concoctions sold in different corners of the country are at risk of acute kidney injury.

We have seen many patients come to our hospital and upon examination, we realize that they are battling kidney failure,” says Muhammed Omoniyi, a doctor and consultant at the Obafemi Awolowo Teaching University Hospital.

“The problem is that they take cheap medicinal herbs that damage their kidneys to the point of needing a kidney transplant.

Even if a donor is eventually found, it is not a cheap intervention.

One of the remedies to avoid kidney problems is to stop taking unauthorized herbal concoctions before it is too late,” he warns.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), created in 1993, requires registration and approval of herbal medicines before they are placed on the market.

Despite the regulations, in large cities there are women, usually known as

elewe

-

omo

, who sell various types of concoctions.

Sayo Akintola, NAFDAC media advisor in Lagos, did not respond to calls or requests for comment on the

agbo

sell-off .

Doctor Omoniyi urges the Agency to take appropriate measures to ban some of these remedies, at least those suspected of being harmful to humans.

And he remembers that those who do not have the resources to afford professional medical care, the most vulnerable, are usually the largest consumers and, therefore, the greatest victims.

According to the World Health Organization, in Africa 80% of the population depends on traditional medicine to meet their basic health needs.

The problem of drug prices

The president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, announced in May 2023 the elimination of fuel subsidies in the country.

This measure, added to inflation and the devaluation of the naira (the local currency), has turned the lives of many Nigerians into a battle for survival.

Against this backdrop, retail prices of commonly used medicines have continued to rise, especially since the exit of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc in August last year.

According to an official statement by the company secretary, Frederick Ichekwai, the board of directors of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc has concluded that “the only alternative is to cease operations in Nigeria.”

A company source, who asked not to be named, says the reason for the exit is a shortage of foreign currency, which is affecting GSK's ability to continue supplying medicines and vaccines to the market.

Ronke Oyedeji, who runs a pharmacy in Lagos, explains the rise in prices that this news has triggered: “Paracetamol, which in September was sold at 0.21 euros, now costs twice as much,” he says.

Several pharmacies in Lagos confirm the increase in prices of many other drugs: the Ventolin inhaler, which cost 2.04 euros, now costs 10.19 euros;

and the antibiotic Augmentin, which cost 5.11 euros before GSK left, now costs 25.60

Nigerian Khadijah Adebukola admits that due to the high cost of medicines, he recently turned to traditional cures to treat an illness.

“I had to visit a woman who gave me some herbs to cure typhoid fever a few weeks ago.

The price of medications and injections were a problem.

I couldn't get money to buy the drugs they prescribed for me at the hospital.

I know that my kidney and liver are in danger if I continue consuming harmful herbal products, but God will help me eliminate them,” he assures.

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