The Impact of Herbal Drug Use on Adverse Drug Reaction Profiles of Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Zimbabwe

Background . The main objective was to determine the impact of herbal drug use on adverse drug reactions in patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Methodology . Patients receiving first-line ART from the national roll-out program participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants were interviewed and a data collection sheet was used to collect information from the corresponding medical record. Results . The majority (98.2%) of participants were using at least one herbal drug together with ART. The most common herbal remedies used were Allium Sativum (72.7%), Bidens pilosa (66.0%), Eucalyptus globulus (52.3%), Moringa oleifera (44.1%), Lippia javanica (36.3%), and Peltoforum africanum (34.3%). Two indigenous herbs, Musakavakadzi (OR = 0.25; 95% CI 0.076–0.828) and Peltoforum africanum (OR = 0.495; 95% CI 0.292–0.839) reduced the occurrence of adverse drug events. Conclusions . The use of herbal drugs is high in the HIV-infected population and there is need for pharmacovigilance programs to recognize the role they play in altering ADR profiles.