As usual, the convivial atmosphere of laughter, banters, songs and palm-thumping, reminiscent of all Pax Herbal Congresses since it began in, Ewu-Esan, Edo State, in 2003, were, also, hugely visible at Onitsha, from September 3-6, that the annual event lasted.

Otherwise known as “Onitsha 2009”, the theme of the 5th Pax Herbal International Congress: “The Role of Herbal Medicine in Primary Health Care in Nigeria”, clearly, underscore the intensive and collective participatory mood demonstrated by most of the delegates who attended the conference. Succinctly, this year's theme, on the one hand, was an introspective look into the role and duties of Pax Herbal Health Care Provider's, (PHCP's), while on the other hand, a critical x-ray of their continued relevance in the vortex of the nation's rather creaky healthy delivery system.

On Thursday, September 3, the eve of the event, participants clustered in groups, discussing the theme of the congress, at Madonna Renewal Centre, Nkpor, where they lodged. Over 400 distributors attended this year's congress. It was evident during dinner, from the comments and remarks being made by delegates, that they needed to be reassured of their continued relevance; being the veritable bridge between Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories, the manufacturer of the herbal products they dispense, and the patients who are the consumers, in the nation's health care delivery system.

Most delegates, who formed pockets of groups in the restaurant, the reception lobby and the parking lot of the expansive drum-shaped edifice, underscored the appropriateness of this year's theme, on the heels of what some of the health care providers frequently referred to as the increasingly blistering attack on herbal medicine practice by most orthodox trained medical practitioners.

A delegate in a group of 13 people, comprising participants from Abuja, Benin, Calabar, Enugu, Ibadan, Lagos, Owerri and Jos, wondered why any one would refer, contemptuously, to a Pax PHCP as an illiterate. “Some of us”, the delegate maintained, “are graduates of universities and polytechnics. We also have State Registered Nurses and teachers with NCE certificates who have been trained by Pax on practical diagnosis; how to detect the symptoms of ailments, as well as the application of herbal medicines, including how to combine formulations for ailments with dual or multiple symptoms.

It was obvious from snippets of constructive discussions that participants were in Onitsha in guest of added knowledge on common and uncommon ailments; recent herbal medicines from the stable of Pax and some assurance that PHCP's were still on the pathway, no matter how thankless it may appear, that their vocation remains noble and worthwhile.

Anxiety and anticipation welled up so high in the Bishop Shanahan Hall, Basilica of Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha, that delegates were unanimous that the usual traditional greetings of each zone, to the General Assembly of PHCP's, after a heartfelt rendition of Pax Anthem be fast-forwarded, ostensibly, to herald speeches aimed at dissecting the theme of the conference.

Clearly, the significance of the theme reflected on the mien of the Coordinator of Pax Centre, Rev. Fr. Anselm Adodo, OSB, when he stood up to speak. He greeted the participants, who had come from the six geo-political zones of the country, and the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Abuja, some of whom were also present at Owerri, in 2008, where they shared and reflected upon their experiences in the administration of herbal medicines.

He welcomed the delegates on behalf of the superior of St. Benedict Monastery, Ewu-Esan, Very Rev. Fr. Vincent Mordi, and the brotherhood of the Monks of Ewu Monastery. Calmly, he reassured the participants: “Pax Herbal Health Care Providers are people who believe in the vision and mission of PaxHerbals, which is to bring health nearer to the people”.

So, “what is health?” Adodo asked. “Health”, he began, “is a state of harmony of mind and body. Health is a state of harmony between me and myself; me and my fellow human beings; and me and my environment; and, of course, between me and my God”. He emphasised that “when God made man and woman, he gave them all they needed to be healthy, by giving them sunshine, water, air and the earth” in which they dwell.

He pointed out that in spite of all these bounties, man, characterised by his innate clumsy pattern of existence, and the world that we live in, are today, simultaneously in crisis. So, again, what, indeed, is responsible for the increasingly wayward routine of human existence?