Background
While the timelines for vaccine discovery and clinical development are
remarkable and unprecedented, at the time of writing, there is no known
pharmacological cure for SARS-Cov-2 infection. In
addition to the plethora of investigations into conventional therapies,
it is also noteworthy that there has always been high interest in the
use of traditional medicines for COVID-19 from early in the course of
the pandemic. The dismally slow rate of vaccine access for low- and
middle-income countries (LMICs) has galvanised healthcare practitioners
and scientists to re-visit both conventional and traditional medicines.
China and countries in Africa have long histories of use of traditional
and herbal medicine in the treatment and prevention of human and animal
diseases1. In many communities, traditional medicine
is an important contributor to primary health care building on a
longstanding cultural acceptability in its use2–4. In
Africa, anecdotal estimates are that they have been used for
>80% of illness at least once. Most individuals who
provide traditional medicine therapy are highly respected in their
community. In some instances, this trust is linked with religion and
steeped in culture and tradition. In addition, accessibility,
availability and affordability of herbal medicines often makes them a
preferred choice over conventional therapies. Even practitioners of
modern medicine would find it difficult to deny the confidence that
their patients have in traditional medicine and the relief that they
afford in some circumstances.
Significant advances in the science of ethnopharmacology has helped to
introduce single chemical entities, in contrast to composite natural
product source, into modern medicine 5. Indeed, many
of the natural products that have been developed into modern
therapeutics have come from plants6.
In presenting our views as clinical pharmacologists, we acknowledge our
bias in having been trained in conventional drug use, but highlight our
respect for the potential role of traditional medicines in the current-,
and future pandemics. Our purpose is to invite comment, critique, and
alternate viewpoints.