scientific goals
The situation in sub-Saharan Africa:
MALARIA kills one person every 30 seconds, which is roughly 3,000 deaths per day.
TUBERCULOSIS kills one person every 60 seconds, which is roughly 1,500 deaths per day.
AIDS-RELATED illnesses kill one child every 90 seconds, which is roughly 1,000 deaths per day.
31 MILLION PEOPLE are living with HIV, of which 3 million are children.
ONLY 55% of the population has access to clean water and ONLY 37% has access to sanitation facilities.
Our response:
Integrative Medicine Foundation recognizes that traditional medicine is an invaluable natural resource that holds the potential to alleviate sub-Saharan Africa’s disease burden. We believe the development of traditional medicine will empower sub-Saharan Africa to transform itself from a region reliant on the unaffordable and scarce supply of foreign medical aid to a provider of healthcare for its own communities, and eventually, the rest of the world.
In collaboration with U.S.-based and local research experts, as well as our local partners in Kenya and Uganda, Integrative Medicine Foundation will:
CONSTRUCT an analytical laboratory to conduct research on the chemistry and toxicology of traditional medicines that will provide background data for clinical trials.
COORDINATE clinical trials based on a best practice model that not only generate data on the safety and efficacy of traditional medicine, but also help to identify diseases that are best treated by traditional or allopathic medicine or a combination of the two.
DISSEMINATE valuable information on primary and supportive treatments through the publication of data in scientific journals.
Generating research data on traditional medicine through rigorous clinical trials, Integrative Medicine Foundation aims to facilitate the implementation of safe, effective treatment options into healthcare policy in Africa.