05/10/2020
Development of a Safe and Efficacious Anti-Malarial Drug from Traditional Medicine (DESAT)
VOUCHER SPECIMEN COLLECTION
The DESAT project team visited Tororo district to collect voucher specimen . This exercise involved collecting plants that were listed after the previous field work
SUB-ACTIVITIES
On 25th August 2020, the team met up Mr. Oketcho Lawrence the parish chief of Paya Sub-county to discuss the villages from which voucher specimen will be collected from.
On 26th August 2020, the team met up with a known medicine man called Mr. Charles Oyuk Owino in Senda Parish particulary from Wang’kwodo village. The team managed to collect twenty-six (26) voucher specimen which were carefully pressed.
On 27th August 2020, the team headed to Kirewa Parish particularly Soni Ogwang village and seven (7) plants were collected from bushes with the help of Mr Oketcho Lawrence. In Senda Parish, Pasicula village the team was able to collect two (2) plants with help of the local people. And also, Mr Oketcho Lawrence provided the team with seven (7) plants from his garden and compound.
On 28th August 2020, two (2) plants were collected from Mr Olweny Joseph from Pasicula village and also two (2) plants were collected from Mr Charles Oyuk Owino in Wang’kwodo village.
Following this activity, the team was able to collect 46 voucher specimen which were dried and handed in for identification.
This activity was a success. Research and Innovations Fund
27/03/2020
Development of a Safe and Efficacious Anti-Malarial Drug from Traditional Medicine (DESAT)
PRE-TESTING EXERCISE
The DESAT project team visited Tororo district (the study area due to high levels on malaria prevalence in Tororo region, according to the Uganda malaria map). This excercise involved traversing the entire district, getting acquainted with the Local leaders and seeking permission to conduct research in the selected area.
Sub-activities
On Thursday 27th March, team of four people went to Kirewa subcounty and met with the LCIII Kirewa parish Mr Okello Joseph. Mr Okello helped the team identify the villages from Senda Parish (Pasikula village and Wangkwodo village) and Katandi Parish (Mwenge village). He then directed the team to a prominent medicine man (Mr Ochola Olowo) in Mwenge village on whom the first questionnaire was pre-tested. Mr. Ochola is a key informant thus he helped in identifying various malaria treating plant species and showed us those he domesticates in his home compound.
On Friday 28th March 2020, the team drove to Paya parish and met the Parish chief Mr. Oketcho Alula Lawrence, Vice LCIII Paya parish, Mr. Opondo Gastavas, and the woman counsellor Sere parish - Miss Amali Jane Francis. The team pre-tested the questionnaire on the aforementioned Local leaders. The local leaders then led the team to other respondents who willingly participated in the pre-testing exercise. These respondents were identified from Namwire parish (Pasule A village) and Paya parish (Nyakadere village). All respondents were compensated for their time.
Following this excercise, the team was able to identify the gaps in the questionnaire and a new version of the tool was developed for the bigger survey
The Pre-test was very successful. Research and Innovations Fund
25/11/2019
Development of a Safe and Efficacious Anti-malarial drug from Traditional medicine (DESAT)
Malaria remains one of the diseases with the most human morbidities and mortalities in the world. In 2017, an estimated 219 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide with 92% of the cases in Africa. Children under 5 years are the most vulnerable to malaria. In 2017, they accounted for 61% of all malaria deaths worldwide. The challenge with current malaria therapies is that malaria parasite has developed resistance to ACTs. Another challenge is the high cost of treatment. These challenges highlight the need for alternative anti-malarial therapies.
The aim of this study is to develop an effective anti-malarial phytomedicine. The specific objective are 1) to prioritize malaria treating plants, and to determine 2) efficacy of commonly used herbal medicines, 3) safety of commonly used herbal medicines, and 4) the active compounds in the selected phytomedicines. Our study approach will comprise of ethnobotanical, and standard bioassay methods and phytochemical methods. This work builds on the previous experience of our team concerning drug development for antimalarial from natural sources. The current study proposes to extend beyond documentation of malaria treatment plants to include evaluation of safety and efficacy. The project will last one year.
