East Africa: Researchers Confirm Khat's Medicinal Properties, Potential for Billion Dollar Industry

Posted on :Thursday , 2nd March 2017

Khat, which was banned by the United Kingdom in 2014, is not as bad after all, at least going by a recent study commissioned by Kenya.

The study, which involved more than 800 people residing in major khat growing areas of the country, was the first large study that looked at the public health impacts of the plant. Its results? Khat has medicinal properties that could be a game changer in the region's health and economic sector.

"We could actually be condemning and ruining the reputation of a plant that has the potential of becoming a billion-dollar industry for the region," said Dr Charles Mbakaya, the lead researcher of the study conducted by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri).

Dr Mbakaya was speaking at the Kemri Annual Scientific and Health Conference (KASH), where the findings were released.

He noted that khat could play a key role in the development of health products that tackle obesity, which is a major contributor to the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) globally. The study revealed that khat chewers were less likely to be obese or to have a high body mass index (BMI) compared with those who refrained from it.

Obesity is linked to ailments such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension and heart disease which are on the rise in East Africa.

Even though khat had previously been associated with impotency and sexual dysfunction, the Kemri study found that there was no difference in family size between people who chewed khat and those that did not. They all had an average of between five and six children.

Male khat chewers reported higher libido and enhanced sexual stimulation and activity. They also reported fewer reproductive health problems compared with non-chewers.

Improve sexual performance

According to Dr Mbakaya, these findings suggest the possibility of a medicinal component of khat that could be "teased out" and repackaged to address reproductive health issues like infertility and erectile dysfunction.

"Look, a drug like Viagra that improves sexual performance is a multibillion-dollar industry globally. We could generate such value with our own products and boost our economy," the lead researcher said.

Based on the findings, khat could play a key role in the development of effective antibiotics to tackle deadly bacteria that are responsible for lethal ailments such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and blood stream infections that are major contributors of child mortality in East Africa and beyond.

Research has shown that aside from just attacking normal bacteria, the plant could also destroy bugs that have developed resistance to existing antibiotic drugs.

Khat could therefore help nations to address the global antibiotic resistance problem that is currently a major threat to public health.

East Africa may also begin making dental health products from the plant as the study showed that khat consumers had a reduced occurrence of plaque and bleeding gums.

Khat is also known to provide relief for common colds, asthma and heartburn.

More research needed

To harness the medicinal properties of khat and thus increase its worth (beyond its current recreational use), Dr Mbakaya says that East Africa will need to invest more on research.

"This is just the beginning. We need to keep studying the plant, develop products and subject them to clinical trials.

"We need to increase local funding four our research if we want to fully harness the potential of our medicinal plants," he added.

Dr Mbakaya noted that policies are required to address challenges in the khat industry such as the plant's impact on children's education.

"We could maybe come up with a law that prohibits the cultivation and handling of the crop by minors," added Dr Mbakaya.

In 2016, there were concerns that the worst performing primary schools in the Kilimanjaro area of Tanzania were all located in a district known as Same where khat is cultivated. Many pupils were said to offer cheap labour in those farms. Similar concerns have been raised in Kenya.

Despite the benefits of khat highlighted in the study, Dr Mbakaya cautioned against misuse and abuse of the drug.

"More research is still required to determine the optimal dose required for maximum health benefits and avoidance of ill effects," said Dr Mbakaya.

Based on the research, many khat consumers combined it with other stimulants such as alcohol and tobacco. Dr Mbakaya noted that these additional stimulants could actually be responsible for the mental illnesses that previous studies associated with khat chewers.

Alcohol and tobacco are well known causes of mental problems such as depression and psychosis. Their effects on health are also considered to be rather more severe than khat, based on the World Health Organisation rankings.

Bone of contention

This has been a major bone of contention in the region. Experts have on numerous occasions raised concerns over what they term as "the application of double standards" in the banning of khat.

"If the decision is truly based on science, then governments should first ban tobacco and alcohol use in their countries as their impact on health is much more severe than that of khat," said Dr Kihumbu Thairu, professor of medical physiology at the University of Nairobi.

Ugandan khat farmers and dealers under the umbrella of the Mairungi Growers and Traders Association raised this matter last year while protesting the country's Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 2014, which outlawed the growing of the crop.

East Africa: Researchers Confirm Khat's Medicinal Properties, Potential for Billion Dollar Industry

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