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{
    "id": 120400,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/120400/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 333,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Alternative and herbal remedies have evoked heated debate all over the world, and Kenya is no exception. We do not have clear statistics on how many people use herbal remedies in Kenya but the truth is that the use of herbal remedies in Kenya has clearly gained acceptance. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 3.5 billion people today are on herbal remedies. The estimate for Africa and developing countries is that up to 85 per cent of our population depends on herbal remedies. That means that, out of the 40 million Kenyans living today, about 30 million of them, including hon. Members have, at one time or the other, used herbal remedies. In Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa, traditional herbal medicines are being used to treat a variety of diseases. Such practices are especially widespread in areas where people are unable to afford the conventional medicine. The cost, most of the time, is beyond the reach of our people. Going by the above estimates, therefore, we can see that we have to admit that many Kenyans--- In fact, millions of Kenyans are using herbal medicine. That is not surprising as the landscape of Kenya has a lot of therapeutic herbs which are used in fighting many maladies. I will give a few examples. There is the Neem Tree which is called Mwarubaini. It is believed to have a capability of containing up to 40 diseases. We have the Morinda opera whose flowers, leaves and roots are used to tackle a variety of ailments. The list of herbal medicinal plants in Kenya is endless. Many of those herbs, unfortunately, are currently being used without clear studies on their effects and what they can do to the human life. At the moment, we know that those herbal remedies are being used in a big way in the management of many illnesses, particularly by those people who are suffering from chronic incurable diseases and terminal illnesses such as arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, candida, HIV/AIDS, malaria, rheumatism, typhoid, ulcers and all forms of other illnesses. They are also being used to cure bronchial diseases, highland malaria, peptic ulcers, STDs, tuberculosis, typhoid and influenza. Therefore, the use of herbal alternative has been widespread in Kenya in the recent past and that is primarily due to the following reasons:- In most parts of our country, there is poor access to modern health facilities and, where there is access, the cost of such facilities is very high for most of our people. There is also the unavailability of peptic drugs to combat common diseases in the rural areas. It"
}