Dr Maina Mwea is a trained pharmacist-turned-herbalist who runs his herbal clinic in Hurligham, Nairobi.
The UK-trained herbalist, who was born and partly bred in Nyeri County, boasts over 20 years of experience in herbal treatment. He studied pharmacy in Britain between 1972 and 1976 through a government scholarship.
Dr Maina also served as the Chief Pharmacist at the Kenyatta National. In fact, medical practitioners usually refer patients to his herbal clinic.
In an interview with the Nairobian at his clinic, Dr Maina spoke about the reported outbreak of super gonorrhea in Nairobi.
“Gonorrhoea was a dog disease but it just jumped the fence because of too-close interactions between man and dog. Someone slept with it and that is the origin of the disease. I have encountered many cases, in fact, I was preparing medicine for one of them when you arrived. The disease has become resistant because some pharmacists and doctors are just dishing out antibiotics,” he opined.
Dr Maina noted gonorrhoea has been hard to treat because people tend to shy away from reporting sexually transmitted diseases until it is too late. He said it is unfortuante some patients resort to self-medication after reading some false information online without undergoing any tests.
“Every disease has an origin, in this case, Nairobi has been labelled as a hotpot; on the other hand, cases of infidelity and wife swapping in Nairobi are becoming common in posh estates like Kilimani and Lavington. The disease starts with one couple and spreads faster,” he divulged.
The herbalist said his patients must be tested first to ascertain the kind of STDs they have before being treated.
“Majority of the victims show up with documents showing that they have been tested but sometimes we must order for tests so as not to treat the wrong disease,” he said.
Dr Maina said when all tests have been conducted, the patient is put on a ten-day treatment schedule, which involves taking a liquid concoction.
“The beauty of herbal medicine is that it clears the system unlike the conventional treatment which sometimes demands patients must visit the hospital several times. Herbal medicine is a continuous learning process. I have extended my research on some medicinal herbs in India and even Britain, among other countries,” Dr Maina claimed.
The herbalist also treats fibroids, diabetes, high blood pressure, tuberculosis as well as infectious and non-infectious diseases using roots, leaves, and bark harvested from various parts of the country.
