Providing Probiotics to Sub-Saharan Africa: Ethical Principles to Consider
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Kingsley Anukam
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization in 2001, made a clarion call for efforts to be made to make probiotic products more widely available, especially for relief work and populations at high risk of morbidity and mortality. This strong and direct request to governments, funding agencies, corporate pharmaceutical and food industries has so far not had any impact in sub-Saharan Africa, where people are mired in poverty and stricken with gastro-intestinal and an escalating epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.The ability of certain probiotic strains to prevent and treat some gut and urogenital conditions, and the relative low cost and practical means by which this can be achieved, provides a potential addition to the armamentarium of methods to lower the impact of disease and enhance the quality of life of people in this part of the world.Companies selling reliable probiotic products have not yet entered sub-Saharan Africa, perhaps due to logistical reasons and low pricing. Nevertheless, in order to make a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of this large population, ways must be found to provide access to this technology. A community kitchen project in Tanzania, initiated by our group, is one way of taking the concept to the grass roots.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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- From Bench to Bedside to Consumer: Where are the Regulatory Problems for Probiotics?
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- Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine With Primary Health Care Through Public Health To Improve Chronic Disease Management
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- CAM Research in Canada: Sharing Successes and Challenges - Abstracts from the 2nd Annual IN-CAM Symposium, November 12&13, 2005, Toronto, Canada
- Case Report
- Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Successfully Treated with Low Level Laser Therapy
- Clinical Observation of 11 Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Treated with Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Research Article
- The Chinese Quality Of Life Instrument: Development Of A New Health-Related Quality Of Life Instrument Using Factor Analysis And Structural Equation Modeling
- Public Attitudes Towards Chinese Medicine in Melbourne, Australia
- Mentorship Programs within a Network to Build Research Literacy & Capacity in Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) Practitioners
- Chemical Marker Profile and Biological Effects of Natural Products Containing Echinacea
- Position Paper
- Providing Probiotics to Sub-Saharan Africa: Ethical Principles to Consider
Articles in the same Issue
- Invited Review
- An Evidence-based Systemic Review of Glucosamine Conducted by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration
- From Bench to Bedside to Consumer: Where are the Regulatory Problems for Probiotics?
- Review Article
- Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine With Primary Health Care Through Public Health To Improve Chronic Disease Management
- Conference Presentation
- CAM Health Services and Policy Research in Canada - New Directions: Abstracts from the First Annual IN-CAM Symposium, December 4&5, 2004, Toronto, Canada
- CAM Research in Canada: Sharing Successes and Challenges - Abstracts from the 2nd Annual IN-CAM Symposium, November 12&13, 2005, Toronto, Canada
- Case Report
- Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Successfully Treated with Low Level Laser Therapy
- Clinical Observation of 11 Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Treated with Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Research Article
- The Chinese Quality Of Life Instrument: Development Of A New Health-Related Quality Of Life Instrument Using Factor Analysis And Structural Equation Modeling
- Public Attitudes Towards Chinese Medicine in Melbourne, Australia
- Mentorship Programs within a Network to Build Research Literacy & Capacity in Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) Practitioners
- Chemical Marker Profile and Biological Effects of Natural Products Containing Echinacea
- Position Paper
- Providing Probiotics to Sub-Saharan Africa: Ethical Principles to Consider
