Traditional African medicine is a holistic discipline involving indigenous herbalism and typically involving midwives and herbalists. Practitioners of traditional African medicine use herbs to cure various and diverse conditions such as cancers, psychiatric disorders, high blood pressure, cholera, most venereal diseases, epilepsy, asthma, eczema, fever, anxiety, depression, benign prostatic hyperplasia, urinary tract infections, gout, and healing of wounds and burns.
In traditional African medicine, with its belief that
illness is not derived from chance occurrences, but through spiritual or social
imbalance, differing greatly from Western medicine, which is
technically and analytically based. In the 21st century, modern pharmaceuticals
and medical procedures remain inaccessible to large numbers of African people
due to their relatively high cost and concentration of health centres in urban
centres.
Before the establishment of
cosmopolitan medicine, traditional medicine was the dominant medical system for
millions of people in Africa but the arrival of the Europeans was a noticeable
turning point in the history of this ancient tradition and culture. Herbal medicines in Africa are becoming more researched with stronger regulations. However, there is a lack of the detailed
documentation of the traditional knowledge,
which is generally transferred orally.
Modern science has, in the past,
considered methods of traditional knowledge as primitive and backward but recent realities are proving otherwise as traditional African medicines are now being standardized and made into tablets, capsules, liquid and powder. Under colonial rule,
traditional diviner-healers were outlawed because they were considered by many
nations to be practitioners of witchcraft and declared illegal by the colonial
authorities, creating a war against witchcraft and magic. During this time,
attempts were also made to control the sale of herbal medicines.
After Mozambique obtained independence in 1975, attempts to control traditional medicine went as far as sending diviner-healers to re-education camps. As colonialism and Christianity spread through Africa, colonialists built general hospitals and Christian missionaries built private ones, with the hopes of making headway against widespread diseases. Little was done to investigate the legitimacy of these practices, as many foreigners believed that the native medical practices were pagan and superstitious and could only be suitably fixed by inheriting Western methods.
After Mozambique obtained independence in 1975, attempts to control traditional medicine went as far as sending diviner-healers to re-education camps. As colonialism and Christianity spread through Africa, colonialists built general hospitals and Christian missionaries built private ones, with the hopes of making headway against widespread diseases. Little was done to investigate the legitimacy of these practices, as many foreigners believed that the native medical practices were pagan and superstitious and could only be suitably fixed by inheriting Western methods.
Traditional practitioners use a wide
variety of treatments ranging from herbs to biomedical methods such
as fasting and dieting, herbal therapies, bathing, massage, and surgical procedures. Migraines, coughs, abscesses, and pleurisy are often treated using the method of
"bleed-cupping" after which an herbal ointment is applied with
follow-up herbal drugs.
Some cultures also rub hot herbal ointment across the patient's eyelids to cure headaches. Malaria is treated by both drinking and using the steam from an herbal mixture. Fevers are often treated using a steam bath.
Also, vomiting is induced, or emetics, in an attempt to cure some diseases. For example, raw beef is soaked in the drink of an alcoholic person to induce vomiting and nausea and treat alcoholism. In the Bight of Benin, the natives have been known to use the fat of a boa constrictor to cure gout and rheumatism, and it also is thought to relieve chest pain when rubbed into the skin. Approximately 60%-80% of the people in Africa rely on traditional remedies to treat themselves for various diseases. A large percentage of the people in South Africa also rely on traditional remedies to treat their animals for various diseases.
In Nigeria, a greater number of people living in urban areas are gradually embracing herbal medicines as opposed to their orthodox counterparts. This has become a formidable force checkmating the influx of foreign herbal medicines, especially those from Asia, into the country...
( To be continued )
Some cultures also rub hot herbal ointment across the patient's eyelids to cure headaches. Malaria is treated by both drinking and using the steam from an herbal mixture. Fevers are often treated using a steam bath.
Also, vomiting is induced, or emetics, in an attempt to cure some diseases. For example, raw beef is soaked in the drink of an alcoholic person to induce vomiting and nausea and treat alcoholism. In the Bight of Benin, the natives have been known to use the fat of a boa constrictor to cure gout and rheumatism, and it also is thought to relieve chest pain when rubbed into the skin. Approximately 60%-80% of the people in Africa rely on traditional remedies to treat themselves for various diseases. A large percentage of the people in South Africa also rely on traditional remedies to treat their animals for various diseases.
In Nigeria, a greater number of people living in urban areas are gradually embracing herbal medicines as opposed to their orthodox counterparts. This has become a formidable force checkmating the influx of foreign herbal medicines, especially those from Asia, into the country...
( To be continued )
