{"id":35044,"date":"2021-02-18T18:36:10","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T16:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=35044"},"modified":"2021-02-18T18:10:24","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T16:10:24","slug":"zimbabweans-scramble-for-zumbani-to-fight-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabweans-scramble-for-zumbani-to-fight-covid-19","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabweans Scramble For Zumbani To Fight Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>By Jeffrey Moyo<\/b> – Even as the world is bracing for vaccination drives to combat COVID-19, many people in the Southern African country of Zimbabwe have latched their hopes on zumbani \u2014 a woody shrub \u2014 to keep the pandemic at bay.<\/p>\n

Nyson Mhaka, 52, and his wife Gertrude, 47, were infected with COVID-19 in December. They claim to have recovered after taking the \u201cwonder herb.\u201d<\/p>\n

And since then, the couple has turned a campaigner, giving lectures on the lifesaving properties of the fever tea tree leaves.<\/p>\n

While there are no clinical studies to suggest that having zumbani can cure a COVID-19 patient, experts believe that its respiratory healing properties may have provided limited help in certain cases.<\/p>\n

Scientifically known as Lippia javanica, zumbani is a woody erect shrub that grows naturally in Zimbabwe and other African countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cZumbani helped us recover, I thank God,\u201d Mhaka told Anadolu Agency. \u201cOur children panicked, phoning every relative that we were dying at home, but nobody could come in fear of contracting the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, their daughter was told by the neighbors to try zumbani.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my daughter, who, touched by our illness, rushed to the neighbors\u2026 if it was not for this swift introduction of zumbani, we would have died,\u201d said Gertrude.<\/p>\n

Martha, the couple\u2019s 24-year-old daughter, said her parents were on the death bed and almost sinking till she decided to give them juice extracted from the shrub by boiling its leaves.<\/p>\n

Constance Makoni, 33, a former journalist at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, had a similar experience. She said that a blend of zumbani and several other herbs helped her parents recover from coronavirus last year.<\/p>\n

She told Anadolu Agency that taking a cup of zumbani tea once or twice a day has now become a routine for her family members. \u201cIt is something that we use and believe it helps,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Magical powers\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

While there are many others who believe in the \u2018magical\u2019 healing powers of zumbani, herbal medicine experts say its anti-COVID-19 properties stand unproven.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not a coronavirus cure. It is just a relief agent, especially when one is using it in the process of steaming; you inhale it just for relief. The virus in the body can\u2019t be cured,\u201d said Sarudzai Javaza, a herbalist.<\/p>\n

She said that zumbani leaves are used for making tea, and treating flu for long.<\/p>\n

\u201cZumbani is not a cure for COVID-19. What we need is to kill the virus,\u201d said Jaravaza.<\/p>\n

Yet many known herbal traders in Harare are selling zumbani in the name of curing the novel disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cZumbani is quite effective in preventing coronavirus. In terms of treating the disease, I have not really gotten the science behind it,\u201d said Daylight Chidzanja, a herbal trader in the capital. \u201cBut zumbani contains phenolic compounds, antibacterial, antiviral properties that prevent the growth or attack by bacteria and viruses, respectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that because of these properties, people are using the herb against COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Zimbabwe\u2019s Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga said there was a need to undertake a scientific study to ascertain the efficacy of traditional medicine and herbs to combat the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Give herb a chance<\/p>\n

With zumbani gaining fame across Zimbabwe, doctors have started saying that the shrub should be given a chance, subject to relevant approvals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think zumbani should be given a chance; there are many, many other medicines that can be tried\u2026 let us work on them and not rely on western medicine only,\u201d Henry Madzorera, a medical practitioner, told Anadolu Agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anybody thinks zumbani can help them right now, I can say it because we have used it for a long time. I have taken Zumbani as tea even before I knew it had medicinal properties.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he added, big pharmaceutical companies are not interested in African herbal medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will lose profits, they will lose business,\u201d he said, urging the government to undertake scientific research on the medical utility of herbs found in the continent.<\/p>\n

Bob Dzere, a herbalist based in Marondera, a town in Mashonaland East Province, also argued that zumbani should be considered as a possible medicine against coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is power in every herb, and Zumbani is one of those herbs created by God. We may not know everything. As we grew up, zumbani was used to treat colds, coughs, fevers, and malaria,\u201d the 68-year-old told Anadolu Agency.<\/p>\n

Billet Magara, another Zimbabwean herbalist who was hit by COVID-19, said that he also used zumbani to recover.<\/p>\n

This story was first published on Anadolu Agency.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. By Jeffrey Moyo – Even as the world is bracing for vaccination drives to combat COVID-19, many people in the Southern African country of Zimbabwe have latched their hopes on zumbani \u2014 a woody shrub \u2014 to keep the pandemic at bay. Nyson Mhaka, 52, and his wife Gertrude, 47, were infected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,35,15],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":["post-35044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nZimbabweans Scramble For Zumbani To Fight Covid-19 - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Jeffrey Moyo - Even as the world is bracing for vaccination drives to combat COVID-19, many people in the Sout ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabweans-scramble-for-zumbani-to-fight-covid-19\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zimbabweans Scramble For Zumbani To Fight Covid-19\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jeffrey Moyo - 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