IN SHORT: Several Facebook posts claim that a herbal remedy can heal a wide range of women’s health challenges. But a medical expert says a herbal mixture cannot cure many diseases as treatments vary.
A Facebook post advertises a herbal remedy that it claims can heal women’s fertility problems ranging from recurring infections, fibroids, hormonal imbalances, ovulation issues, and painful or irregular periods.
The 13 December post reads: “After 5 years of meticulous research, Madam Oby has revealed a 100% natural, safe, and NAFDAC-approved remedy that’s already changing lives. Thousands of women are sharing heartfelt testimonials about how this breakthrough has restored their confidence, health, and happiness. This isn’t just another remedy—it’s a lifeline.”
The post features a video of a woman speaking in Pidgin, a language widely spoken in Nigeria. It translates to: “If you are a lady experiencing vagina dryness during sexual intercourse or finding it difficult to conceive, this female libido booster tea is for you.”
The woman further notes that interested buyers get a “lady’s care immune booster and infection flusher tea” for free when they order the female libido booster tea.
“This immune booster tea helps to melt early stages of fibroids, breast lumps, heals chronic infections and breast cancer,” the woman says.
Interested users are directed to click a link to make their purchase.
The video has been viewed over 58,000 times, liked 200 times, and has 40 comments.
Posts making the same claim can be found here and here. (Note: More examples are listed at the end of this report.)
But could this herbal remedy cure the many illnesses listed? We checked.
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Fibroids are common growths of the uterus. They often appear during a woman’s fertile years, when she is usually able to get pregnant and give birth.
A hormonal imbalance happens when there is too much or too little of one or more hormones – the body’s chemical messengers. It’s a broad term that can represent many different hormone-related conditions.
A breast lump is a mass or growth that develops in the breast. While a breast lump can be a sign of breast cancer, it’s usually benign, or not cancerous.
Breast cancer occurs when cancerous cells in a woman’s breasts multiply and become tumours. About 80% of breast cancer cases are invasive, meaning the tumour may spread from the breasts to other areas of the body.
The link attached to the post directed us to a website that asked users to choose their age range to continue their purchase. The advertising copy on this page was unprofessionally written and this was a red flag.
When we clicked on the first age range, we were directed to another page that featured a full description of symptoms and testimonies from previous users.
Users are then directed to another page to place their order and input personal information such as full name, phone number and desired delivery address. Customers are not informed of how much the drugs cost – apparently until a sales representative calls them. This is an unusual and suspicious sales tactic.
“Your information and order details are very safe & secured with us. Once you’ve placed your order, You will get a confirmation call from our professional sales representative,” the website copy reads.
This may be a form of phishing, a form of cyberattack where scammers try to fool people into giving them sensitive information.
According to Cleveland Clinic, fibroids can be left alone when small and without symptoms. However, patients with symptoms may undergo a surgical process called a myomectomy, a procedure that allows a gynaecologist to remove the fibroids.
Treatment for hormonal imbalances depends on the underlying cause. While medicine, surgery, and radiation therapy may be required to address higher-than-normal hormone levels, hormone replacement therapy is used to cure lower-than-normal hormone levels.
In most cases, breast lumps disappear without treatments. Surgery is only needed in unusual circumstances.
The main treatment for breast cancer is usually surgery. Other common treatments include chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
None of the standard treatments for these common female health concerns include a tea or herbal mixture that targets a wide range of diseases, as advertised on social media.
Aziken Michael, a professor of gynaecology and obstetrics at the University of Benin in Nigeria, told Africa Check that most herbal mixtures are not specifically tailored to any specific condition.
“Some of these herbal mixtures contain vitamins that can only improve your appetite, not to cure your illnesses.”
Aziken noted that most of the people who advertised herbal mixtures were frauds, who only “collect orthodox medicine, grind it, put it in water, and add bitter leaves” to make it seem authentic.
Other instances of the false claim can be found here, here and here.
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