A chemical extract from the leaves of another herb called Ancistrocladus korupensis found in Cameroon was also found active in the National Cancer Institute anti-HIV screening program. This compound shows in-vitro activity against strains of both HIV-1 and HIV-2 (Hostettmann et al.). More research may still be underway.



There are undoubtedly some fallback factors to consider with African traditional medicine. For example, in the case that a traditional African medicine healer treats a patient, we can ask the question whether traditional healers are using hygienic or sterile equipment in preparing these herbal treatments. It is important that traditional healers are educated in line with constantly maintaining and following safe practices so that a visit to the traditional healer does not turn out to be the beginning or continuation of the avoidable spread of the virus to the unaware (Peters et al.).

Another hazard is that even if HIV/AIDS infected victims are encouraged by their governments to use traditional medicine, we must consider that there is a likelihood that alternative medicine in the form of herbs is used at the same times prescribed drugs like antiretrovirals are taken. Have people been educated on the effects of combining the two and the adversary effects? Perhaps, not enough research has been done as yet; to combine the African herbs and prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. Another focus should be to prevent any detrimental results or ineffectiveness of either of the treatments. Following that, according to Mills et al. (2005), Hypoxis has the ability to interact with HIV drug metabolizing enzymes, which could lead to an inhibitory effect of the prescribed drugs through drug toxicity and drug resistance. Mill et al. also noted that many of the experiments with Hypoxia have been performed in vitro and not as yet in vivo. Furthermore, there is a possibility that Sutherlandia ?could affect antiretroviral drug metabolism leading to bi-directional drug interactions and loss of therapeutic efficacy.?(Mills et al.).

On the whole, like all the other beliefs in alternative medicine in various parts of the world, there seems to be a strong belief among most African communities on the effectiveness of traditional African herbal medicine. At the same time, for some people, it may be a cheaper alternative to prescription pharmaceutical drugs. Again, there should obviously be concern as to whether certain herbal medicine can clash with HIV/AIDS drugs like antiretrovirals, protease inhibitors and others. We look forward to the extensive research on these traditional herbs and their benefits and side effects. The herbs covered in this paper may not precisely be cure-all treatments for HIV/AIDS, but that is yet to be fully researched. At the end of the day, the cure for a killer epidemic like HIV/AIDS could be in any of the numerous traditional African herbs.