The Use Of Traditional Medicine In Primary Health Care

Herbal medicines constitute the main component of traditional medicine, which have been used since thousands of years. They have made significant contribution to human health through their health promotive, curative and rehabilitative properties and in the prevention of illnesses. Indeed, many herbal remedies used traditionally have become modern medicines through drug development. Digoxin, morphine, colchicine, and artemisinin are some notable examples. Long tradition of use of many herbal remedies and experiences passed on from generation to generation has brought about reliance by the people on herbal medicines. At present, the use of herbal medicinal plants for health products is increasing worldwide. This publication contains 28 monographs on common ailments which can be readily treated with simple herbal remedies. They can be prepared easily and used within the ambit of primary health care. Each monograph provides description of the ailment, the form of traditional preparation, its composition, English name, Latin name and family of the plant, plant part used, main chemical constituents, quality standards, method of preparation, dosage form, therapeutic properties, indications and uses, dose and mode of administration, precautions and safety aspects, and important references. This manual can be used by health planners, policy makers, national and district health authorities and others involved in the health sector development and reform. It is also an attempt to increase availability and accessibility to cost-effective treatment of commonly encountered health problems with herbal remedies. It will be useful for education and training of community health workers as well.

Based on careful analysis of burden of disease and the costs ofinterventions, this second edition of 'Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, 2nd edition' highlights achievable priorities; measures progresstoward providing efficient, equitable care; promotes cost-effectiveinterventions to targeted populations; and encourages integrated effortsto optimize health. Nearly 500 experts - scientists, epidemiologists, health economists,academicians, and public health practitioners - from around the worldcontributed to the data sources and methodologies, and identifiedchallenges and priorities, resulting in this integrated, comprehensivereference volume on the state of health in developing countries.

The global popularity of herbal supplements and the promise they hold in treating various disease states has caused an unprecedented interest in understanding the molecular basis of the biological activity of traditional remedies. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects focuses on presenting current scientific evidence of biomolecular ef

This report is structured in five parts: national framework for traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM); product regulation; practices and practitioners; the challenges faced by countries; and finally the country profiles. Apart from the section on practices and practitioners the report is consistent with the format of the report of the first global survey in order to provide a useful comparison. The section on practices and practitioners which covers providers education and health insurance is a new section incorporated to reflect the emerging trends in T&CM and to gather new information regarding these topics at a national level. All new information received has been incorporated into individual country profiles and data graphs. The report captures the three phases of progress made by Member States; that is before and after the first WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy (1999?2005) from the first global survey to the second global survey (2005?2012) and from the second survey to the most recent timeline (2012?2018).

Modern medicine has reached a point where the patient is not treated as a biopsychosocial-spiritual being but rather is seen as a virtual identity consisting of laboratory findings and images. More focus is placed on relieving the symptoms instead of curing the disease. Mostly, patients are turned into lifetime medication-dependent individuals. New medicines are needed to overcome the side effects, complications, resistance, and intolerance caused by pharmacological and interventional therapies. In hopes of drug-free and painless alternative treatments with fewer complications, there has been a trend to revisit traditional methods that have been dismissed by modern medicine. Traditional medicine has to be reevaluated with modern scientific methods to complement and integrate with evidence-based modern medicine.

In Nigeria, for quite a long time, many medical scholars have advocated that attention should be given to traditional medicine as an alternative or complementary system of medicine for example, in the early 60ís, Prof. Adeoye Lambo, saw the need to integrate some aspects of traditional medicine into the country's health care system. Despite the growing interest in traditional medicine as an integral part of health care delivery, the bulk of it still remain unregulated. This observation may account for the contempt and distrust existing between the traditional healers and their orthodox counterparts, with each group claiming supremacy and relevance over the other. In Nigeria modern medicine continues to remain costly, heavily bureaucratised and elitist-oriented with large parts of the populace continuing to visit traditional clinics and healing homes in order to find succour and solace in the hands of the uncurbed and poorly regulated traditional healers. It is the view of the author of this book that some form of regulation between the two systems is necessary, to begin the debate the following questions are addressed here: What constitutes traditional or modern medicine? What are the criticisms against them and how are they refuted? How do you identify the beneficial, neutral, harmless and harmful aspects of the practice of indigenous medicine? What aspects of these, should or should not be integrated? What are the modifications the orthodox practitioner has to make? What are the problems and prospects of integration?