Medical breakthroughs in Africa
- AfricanAffairsNetwork
- Oct 1, 2016
- 3 min read
Frankie, Vice President
Africa has been the source of many unrecognised medical breakthroughs in the past. From scientific discoveries to traditional medicine this continent is determined to make its mark in medical history.
Many ancient Egyptian physicians were renowned for their use of swabs soaked in honey to bandage wounds in order to prevent infection. Garlic and onions were also thought to relieve symptoms of asthma. In North Sudan tetracycline (an antibiotic) was used to treat bacterial infections and was widely commercially used in the 20th century. As far back as the 18th century West Africans were aware that being vaccinated against small pox would prevent an individual contracting the disease. Max Theiler, a South African, developed the a vaccine against Yellow Fever in 1937. The first human-to-human heart transplant was performed by South African cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital in December 1967.
In comparison traditional medicines are made from herbs, minerals and even animals. They are commonly used by many people in Africa irrespective of what country they come from. Some would argue that they work better than man made medication. It is considered an art to find the right combination of herbs to reap its health benefits . Only a few people in a community are given the responsibility to create these concoctions. These individuals are referred to as “traditional healers” and they consider the use of herbs as a life style instead of a hobby. Traditional medicine practices are often very secretive and localised, causing practitioners to seldomly write down their trade. Instead, their knowledge is passed on orally. Some African swear by the use of traditional medicine and argue that it works better than over the counter drugs.
A South African company called Lodox Systems have made the only system in the world which is able to produce full body high quality X-ray imaging. It is able to produce a full X-ray of a human being of up to 1.83m in 13 seconds! Recently a Nigerian biotechnology firm called Fyodor have come up with a non-invasive method to diagnose malaria. This is done by using urine instead of current methods of using a blood sample. The new technology has been named UMT which stands for Urine Test for Malaria. This test is able to diagnose malaria in less than 25 minutes. The benefit of this method is that this simple urine dip stick test can be done at home without the need of a trained professional to collect the sample. Eddy Agbo (the founder of the firm) explains that the test works by detecting malaria parasite proteins in the patient’s urine sample.
Africans have contributed to medicine greatly in the past. It’s encouraging to see that medical advances are still occurring. The use of traditional medicine may hold the key to some diseases which are found mostly in the Western world including cancer. But until funding and government support occurs we have unfortunately reached a stand still. If governments across Africa put more money into healthcare and education, Africa could explore the use of traditional medication further. More research needs to be done into the effectiveness of traditional remedies. Also more money needs to be put into the education system so that children are able to reach their full potential academically. You never know the cure for cancer could lying in the hands of an African child…
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