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Iraq
has suffered from an acute shortage of modern medicines.
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Herbs
are your “medicine chest”: when modern medicine becomes scarce, simply open
the chest and choose your remedy. This is what Iraqis have been doing.
Under
the severe circumstances caused by the sanctions, which resulted in an acute
shortage of chemical-based medicines, Iraqis found a valuable treasure in herbs
and eagerly took advantage of that treasure to remedy a wide variety of
diseases.
Since
the second Gulf War in 1991, repeated American and British air raids have
destroyed all Iraqi drug factories and warehouses, together with medical and
pharmaceutical materials and instruments. This destruction resulted in a severe
shortage of medicine, which could not be obtained from hospitals and pharmacies
because they too had their share of destruction.
The
dire need for medicine spurred the search for herb-based pharmaceutical
alternatives like oils, seeds, leaves and roots, from which Iraqis succeeded to
concoct remedies for curing more than 82 diseases of various degrees of
severity. They even succeeded in finding a cure for some chronic diseases that
chemical-based medicines fail to treat effectively.
The
Iraqis' need to make up for the shortage of modern medicine and to deal with the
exorbitant prices of imported drugs, explains the prevalence of herbal
pharmacies that have recently become evident in Baghdad and other governorates.
Herbs:
An Effective Alternative To Modern Medicine
Iraqi
herbalist, Huda Al ‘Abaidee, is of the opinion that "the use of herbs as
an alternative to chemical-based medicines is attributed to two factors: the
tremendous shortage of imported medicine as a result of the sanctions,
particularly before the implementation of the United Nation’s Oil-for-Food
Programme; and the common belief that unlike herbs, which people see as neither
harmful nor effective, chemical-based medicines are always accompanied with side
effects. This belief, though not entirely true as the misuse of herbs could also
have side effects, has boosted the demand by common people for herbal remedies.
Drawing on their instinct and experience, our ancestors knew how to make use of
the plants growing around them not only for food but also for treatment.”
Dr.
Taha Al Hialee, an expert in herbal treatment, stresses that herbal remedies are
subjected to health regulations and criteria set by the Iraqi Ministry of
Health. Herbal specialists have come up with remedies that have proven to be
effective in curing several conditions and diseases that chemical-based
medicines have failed to treat, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, gout,
psoriasis, and certain cancers.
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Low
infant birth weight affects at least 23 percent of all births.
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He
points out that some herbal experts have succeeded in preparing a mixture of
herb extracts they dubbed the “Elixir of Life” because it helps to renew
body cells and delay aging. This remedy, which provides the body with energy and
vitality, is used with honey and royal jelly.
The
herbal expert, Sajidah Yaseen, said that, “medicinal herb specialists in Iraq
have adopted scientific methods for packing herbs and wrapping them in
attractive packages in the form of boxes for dry herbs, bottles for tablets and
liquids, and plastic tubes for pastes.
“There
is a specialized department affiliated with the Ministry of Health called the
Medicinal Herb Center. This department, run by doctors and chemists specialized
in plant and herb taxonomy, supervises and licenses herb farms.”
According
to herbalist Fu’aad ‘Abdul Jabbaar Attaa’ee, “In order to cleanse our
bodies from chemical-based drugs, it’s important that we go back to nature and
use herbs in their natural form. There is a big difference between the condition
of our bodies and that of our forefathers who relied on natural treatments.
Today scientific development has had an impact on our environment and our
health.
“Some
people believe that resorting to plants and herbs for treating some diseases is
like taking a step backwards, but the fact is that chemical-based drugs used by
patients have weakened their bodies. In contrast, herbal treatments have
provided patients with vitality and strength.”
He
added that remedies could also be obtained from animals (some sea animals are
used for treating certain types of cancer) and insects, such as bees, which
produce honey.
Herbal
Remedies Defeat Chronic Diseases
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Germander
has been effective in treating rheumatism.
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Iraqi
citizens had much to say on the positive benefits of herbal treatment.
Thamir Jawad As Sa’doon told me how herbal medicines saved his daughter’s
life. “He [an herbalist] treated one of my children who was suffering from
asthma with medicinal herbs that proved their effectiveness in providing a
complete cure for this disease. A low cost remedy in comparison with the
medicine we used [for the child] for so long… this is truly a gift Allah (SWT)
has endowed on man.”
Taghreed
Sabaah Al ‘Azee, an Iraqi woman, explained to me how she had suffered from
psoriasis for many years, but thanks to herbal treatment, she was cured of the
disease, which used to mar her legs. Now she leads a normal life, relieved from
the exorbitant prices she used to pay for modern medicine.
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200
Iraqi children die with each passing day.
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Mrs.
Lamia ‘Aziz Isma’eel spoke to us about her experience with rheumatism, which
kept her indoors for a long time, especially in the winter. She had suffered
from severe pain before she started using germander. This herb proved to be
effective from the beginning and provided a full cure upon the completion of the
treatment.
Finally,
Abdul Fattah Mas’oud, a retired diabetic, explained how diabetes had affected
his livelihood and resulted in a generous loss of weight. A mere six-month
course of herbal therapy, however, resulted in a full recovery.
More
than ten years of economic sanctions have resulted in a devastating effect on
the health of the Iraqi people. Their will to survive and their rich
history and knowledge of alternative therapies, however, has provided the Iraqi
people with a means to fight back against an unjust system never before seen in
the history of mankind.
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