20 herbs safe for use

 TWENTY-two traditional medicinal plants in PNG are now safe, and regarded effective, to treat minor sicknesses. 

This was confirmed by Dr Prem Rai, Professor at the School of Medicines and Health Sciences at the University of PNG.

Rai revealed the medicinal plants includedlemon grass for treating fever as in the form of steam bath, candle brush for fungal skin infections, guava for diarrhoea, cordyline for fresh cuts, noni for cough, cold and fluand chest congestion, ginger, wild ginger and Scott’s ginger for toothache, tooth decay and backache, aloe to treat burns, crinum lily to treat boils, asthma herb to treat asthma and dysentery, priwinkle to treat pain and body aches, Indian coral tree for cough, breathing difficulties including shortness of breath.

New Guinea Rosewood is used to treat stomach ache and dysentery, pawpaw for cough, merremia for inflammation (redness, sore eyes or swollen), of eye and fever, turkey berry for sores and fresh cuts and milky pine for malaria and fever.

He said safety and usefulness ofthese herbswere guaranteed in terms of their long term use in different places and by different communities in the country for the same sicknesses and conditions.

The scientific literature is availabile on many of the plants to support their claim as traditional uses and a number of these herbs are used as traditional medicines in other countries as well.

“We have recorded evidence of their uses in various communities in the country, most of these medicines are not produced locally for sale but some are. They are prepared and used when needed,’’Rai said.