THE Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) is set to come out with official guidelines on herbal medicines for dengue.
“We are drafting guidelines on dengue that shall be released soon. One of its subjects is on herbal medicines that can be used for dengue,” said Dr. Arthur Dessi Roman, officer-in-charge of RITM’s Medical Department in an online media briefing.
To note, “tawa-tawa,” “banaba,” and papaya leaves are among alternative treatments being used on dengue patients but the Department of Health has not promoted this because of lack of extensive laboratory studies.
“Let us wait for the approval (of the guidelines) and have the data examined completely so that we can be assured of the benefits of these herbal medicines,” said Roman.
Latest data from the DOH showed 125,975 dengue cases recorded from January 1 to September 9. — Gerard Naval
