Non-Communicable Diseases & the Promise of Ethiopian Medicinal Plants

 

Among all deaths worldwide, 74% are attributed to non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, cancers, chronic respiratory disorders, diabetes and other related ones. Given life style changes and other factors, they are also steadily rising in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) like Ethiopia. The fact that traditional medicine has a long history and wide acceptance in the country along with the presence of a huge diversity of medicinal plants in Ethiopia, more investigation led by Ethno botanical information on these medicinal plants may prove valuable as source for novel therapies against NCDs.

Dr. Atkilt Esaiyas, (MSc in Medical Physiology) is currently a faculty member at Hawassa University School of Medicine. He received advanced training in South Korea in Molecular Medicine and is engaged in research on medicinal plants as well as studies on the prevalence of hypertension, substance abuse and many others. His research is published in the Journal of Vascular Medicine & Surgery, Annual Research & Review in Biology, Afri Health Sci., and the Journal of Medicinal Plants Research to name a few.  He looks forward to doing his PhD in related areas.