Samoan plants medicinal value studied
Apia, SAMOA — The use of Samoan plants as medicinal treatment for non-communicable diseases (NCD) could soon be scientifically proven and accepted for Samoans to use.
This was revealed in an interview with the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Lopao’o Natanielu Mua.
As part of an initiative by the Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa (SROS), Lopao’o said the remedy could be Samoa’s answer to combating NCD which he describes as “deadly diseases”.
A report from World Health Organisation (WHO) dated 2015 stated an estimate of 94 per cent of the adult population is overweight and 75 per cent obese.
In addition, almost half of the population surveyed had diabetes.
At the National Kidney Foundation, patients as young as 15 are being treated for dialysis with 130 patients currently receiving treatment at Moto’otua.
Lopao’o told the Sunday Samoan the objective is to utilise the expertise of Samoan scientists at SROS to test Samoan plants that can possibly be used to cure deadly diseases.