Taiz, Yemen – Fahad Al Soroli gathers a small number of people Myrrh and frankincense are mixed with black cumin in a mortar and ground into a fine powder, giving a pungent aroma to his shop in Taiz.
This preparation is sold to diabetics. Other remedies on the shelf, mixtures of garlic, rosemary, root sap and spices, are aimed at treating Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure and arthritis.
A bulletin board outside advertises even more fanciful concoctions, including: “Special oil for hair lengthening” and ” A unique paste for a happy married life. ”
“We cannot say that herbal medicine is the best solution for all illnesses, but it is effective for some illnesses, such as stomach ulcers,” Soroli told Middle East Eye. “While they may not be the best solution for other diseases such as diabetes, they are a cheaper alternative for patients.”
Such concoctions are in the possession of many Taiz residents, although their effectiveness is unproven.
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“There is a shortage of medicines in Taiz and 80% of hospitals are closed,” Soroli said. “People didn’t have much money, so they kept opening shops to help those in need.”
Yemen is under a sea and air blockade by a Saudi-led coalition as President Abd Rabbou Mansour Hadi battles the Houthi movement and allies of former President Ali Abdullah Salah.
The outcome of the Tides, which endured months of intense fighting, brought the city to a standstill and resulted in the collapse of law and order. Hospitals were destroyed, medical supplies curtailed, and tens of thousands of people fled.
Those left behind are often the weakest and most desperate.
Alawi Mohamed Tabet, 63, is counting on his sons. aara and emad To administer insulin for his diabetes. When the war broke out, he lost his job as an electrician, and rising insulin prices forced him to use herbal medicine.
“We used to get the medicine for free at any state hospital, but 10 years ago the hospital stopped providing the medicine, so we had to buy it instead. It used to cost R3,000. [$14] But last year the price rose to more than 8,000 rials [$37]” Thabet told MEE.
By comparison, Sorori’s treatment costs $2 a month.
“Although the efficacy of herbal medicine is not very good, I believe it is better than death,” Thabet said.
Sharifa bint Ahmed, 56, from Al-Aqaba in Taiz city, said the price of high blood pressure drugs had more than doubled to 10,000 riyals ($47) and supplies had dried up, leaving herbalists like Soroli alone. I relied on
“My medicine is not available in Taiz and is rare in Taiz,” she told MEE. [the capital, Sanaa]and since I don’t have a son to help me buy it, I resorted to going to an herbalist.
“I started eating garlic to balance my blood pressure, and one of my relatives told me about a plant mixture that you can buy for just 700 riyals. [$3] I used it for a month. ”
She said she didn’t have any other solutions, but believed the mixture would help.
Herbal medicine has been used in Yemen for thousands of years, but its popularity waned as medicine advanced and hospitals spread across the country. But over the past decade, the industry has grown.
Although many shops in Taiz have closed due to the war, herbalists’ business is booming.
Soroli has worked at his shop since 2002 and opened a new branch last August as desperate residents turned to alternative treatments.
He only had a secondary school diploma and learned how to make herbal medicine from his cousin who ran a shop in Aden.
“I know how to make medicines for dozens of diseases, including endemic ones. During the war, the demand for medicines more than doubled, so I opened a new store in Al-Aqaba,” he said. .
sorority The mixture is crushed and pulped in the laboratory. Greets customers to offer advice on treatments – he said olive leaves and garlic can help with high blood pressure and relieve stomach ulcers A mixture of shellfish, lady’s mantle, and horsetail seeds. Rosemary may help with Alzheimer’s disease, he said.
He knows his mixture is not a panacea.
Akram Ameen, a nephrologist at Sana’a’s Al Kuwait Hospital, said herbal medicines could help, but many were unproven.
Adnan Al-Maktari, a general practitioner at Taiz’s Al-Thawra Hospital, said some herbal medicines can alleviate certain symptoms, but they also come with the risk of side effects.
“Herbal medicines can sometimes help treat diseases, but they can have side effects, so patients should see their doctor and ask about the herbal medicines they use to avoid negative outcomes,” he told MEE. Told.
desperate lack
In Sanaa, importers and pharmacists say Saudi Arabia’s blockade is causing a shortage of desperately needed medicines in the country. There is no sign that the situation will return to normal anytime soon.
A Ministry of Health official told MEE: Local factories once produced 15 percent of the medicines needed for the local market, but the war cut production by two-thirds.
Sohaib Al Homaid, owner of Al Baraka, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Sana’a, told MEE: “The coalition has changed this import process. Everything has to go to Saudi Arabia first for testing. This means we are paying more for medicines arriving in Yemen. , it can take months for medicines to arrive in Sanaa.”
“Additionally, we are facing instability in the US dollar versus the riyal, with the price of the US dollar sometimes rising to 300 riyals on the black market, and the price of medicines increasing.”
The official exchange rate is 215 riyals to the dollar. Yemen’s central bank does not have reserves to supply dollars to traders, so it has resorted to the black market.
Homade denied a monopoly by drug traders and blamed the price rise on import difficulties and dollar instability.
Abdul Hameed al-Otmi, a pharmacist in Hayati, Sanaa province, said supplies were desperately needed in the capital.
“We are trying to find replacements for some medicines, but they are usually not easy to find because some of the local pharmaceutical factories are closed, so some patients are using herbal medicines. ,” Otomi told MEE.
