Abstract

Marius Hedimbi* and Kazhila C. Chinsembu

A survey of plants used to manage AIDS-related conditions can provide important leads and quicken the search for novel anti-HIV compounds. An ethnobotanical survey for plants used to treat disease conditions related to HIV/AIDS was conducted in several villages in Ohangwena region, northern Namibia. The study found a total of 34 plants belonging to 19 different families that were used to manage various opportunistic infections related to HIV/AIDS. Most of the plants were from the Fabaceae family (24%), followed by Combretaceae (9%), and Convolvulcaeae, Molluginaceae, and Olacaceae with 6% each. A total of 19 opportunistic disease conditions were treated with the plants. Most of the plants were used to manage gonorrhea (26%), coughing (24%), syphilis (18%), diarrhea (9%), headache (9%), eczema (6%), and wounds (6%). The most used plant parts were leaves (47%), bark (26%), whole plant, root, and stems (21%), and fruits (4%). The study showed rich knowledge of medicinal plant use for AIDS-related conditions in the Ohangwena region, Namibia. Destructive harvesting of plants should be prevented.