ABSTRACT
In sub-Saharan Africa, traditional medical practitioners also referred to as herbalists, offer diagnostics and therapeutics for diverse medical conditions irrespective of the cause. Given their traditional role as healers and repository of knowledge about medicinal plants, spirituality, customs and religion, people use their services regardless of their location, education, or socio-economic backgrounds. The aim of the study is to explore herbalists´ views and explanations on infertility and women with infertility. Using an exploratory qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 herbalists, 5 from the North-East region, 2 from Ashanti region and 3 from the Greater Accra region. Following thematic analysis, findings show that infertility has multiple causes - medical, natural, spiritual and lifestyle. Some herbalists stated that everyone was created to bear children while others refuted this notion. They shared the common consensus that not everyone can have children even though they may be medically and spiritually fit. The public should be advised on the need for periodic reproductive health checks. Also, there should be a conscious, concerted efforts to gradually dissociate unhealthy explanations of infertility from the actual empirically proven realities.This would empower society to rise above those entrenched beliefs, thereby reducing the stigma associated with infertility and women with infertility. (Afr J Reprod Health 2022; 26[5]: 96-106).
Subject(s)
Plants , Women , Family Nurse Practitioners , Traditional Complex Medical Systems , Infertility , Religion , Culture , Spirituality , GhanaABSTRACT
Aim: Plants are a great source of active substances and are used to cure a lot of diseases. In order to know and list medicinal plants used by traditional therapists and herbalists from the town of Atakpamé, an ethnobotanical investigation has been conducted. Methodology: It is a transversal and descriprtive study that has been carried out from 22th December 2018 to 16th March 2019. Results: It has been conducted nearby 10 traditional therapists and 20 herbalists by direct interviews using a structured questionnaire. The traditional therapists were all men and the herbalists all women. This study has enabled to list 61 species belonging to 30 families grouped into 56 genera, used in the treatment of 30 affections and symptoms. The botanical families more represented were Euphorbiaceae with 8 species, Caesalpiniaceae and Apocynaceae with 5 species each. The most used organs in the recipes are leaves (44,26%). The decoction (47,54%) is the most used mode of preparation. The oral route (76,47%) is the most frequently way of administration. The most healed affections were malaria, infections and anemia with the same percentage of 16,76%. The majority of medicinal recipes are monospecifics. Conclusion: The results of this study can be a source of information for scientific researches in phytochemistry and pharmacology.
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Based on the "Zhong Guo Ben Cao Yao Ji Kao", Chinese herbalists in past dynasties were counted and analyzed by their living period,numbers and native places. Combined with GIS, the geographical distribution and the formation causes of the four distribution centers of herbalists in past dynasties were discussed. The results showed that, there was a greater difference between the numbers of herbalists in different periods of time, which achieved to the peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In addition, the distribution of herbalists in past dynasties characterized east more and west less, forming the distribution areas centered by Huizhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. Besides, the geographical distributions of Chinese herbalists showed an obvious southward trend since the Song Dynasty.
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OBJECTIVE:To understand the current situation and problems of the human resources of herbalists in Chongqing, and to provide reference for the relevant departments in formulating development plan for herbalists and promoting the healthy and sustainable development of Chinese medicine industry. METHODS:Chongqing municipal health and family planning commission is-sued the questionnaires to investigate the post distribution,educational background,job title and advanced study of medicine staff in Chongqing medical institutions. RESULTS:Questionnaires were gathered and reported by county health bureaus with effective re-covery rate of 100%. There were totally 19 713 Chinese medicine practitioners in Chongqing,including 1 739 herbalists,account-ing for 8.8%. Only 1.7%of the herbalists were graduate degrees,and the proportion of highly educated herbalists was low. The pri-mary professional position of the herbalists accounted only 59.5% and senior professional position was only 4.7%,the professional titles of herbalists were generally on the low side. The proportion of further education for herbalists was only 3.2%. There were sig-nificant differences in the ages,working time,highest education,professional positions and post properties and further studies among different economic areas(P<0.05). Herbalists of one-hour economic circle had higher educational level and higher profes-sional position than other two areas. CONCLUSIONS:Chongqing is lack of herbalists,and lack of the senior professional posi-tions,their education level is low and further education rate is low. In order to promote the development of Chinese medicine,it is necessary to strengthen the training and introduction of outstanding and young talents,strengthen the continuing education and regu-lar standardized training,improve the salary and welfare treatment for authorized strength and positions and balance the training for herbalists in different economic areas.
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This paper is the result of a visit by Brazilian researchers to Ghana, with the aim of improving understanding of the relationship between traditional healers and conventional health practices, specifically in relation to tuberculosis. Through this exploratory visit, this group of researchers promoted by the Edital Pro Africa (CNPq) had an opportunity to learn about, reflect on, and discuss the different social, economic and cultural realities and contexts that have led to the different health conditions and forms of healthcare in Ghana. Besides the direct relationship between the social and economic conditions of the country and the health of its population, it was also concluded that there is a clear distancing, in the Ghanaian reality, between the traditional healers and the conventional system, in terms of culture and modes of operation, each constituting isolated systems with little or no collaboration between them.The visit enabled us to see the difficulties involved in managing TB, including diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and co-infection with HIV. The majority of patients with TB only go to hospital after several attempts at self-medication, due to the non-specificity of the principal symptoms, and also to the trust in the traditional medicine. Initiatives to encourage research into medicinal plants in Ghana are seeking partnerships with developed countries, but not always with clear or secure national interests. For the traditional healers, there are high hopes that the information gathered by researchers from the local universities, on the plants and traditional methods they use, will result in affirmation and recognition of their practices, but they complain strongly that they receive no feedback on the research carried out.
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OBJECTIVE@#To identify, present and review the respiratoty medicinal plants which used by Urmian herbalists.@*METHODS@#The list of traditional healers of West Azarbaijan Province was prepared and data were obtained by direct observation, interviews and the questionnaires After that, herbarium samples were collected from the desired area and deposited in herbarium unit of the Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.@*RESULTS@#Our results demonstrated that 20 medicinal plants from 10 plant families are used to treat respiratory disorders. Also, the most plant part that used for treating of respiratory disorders was seed (27%) and the most traditional form prescribed by herbalists was boiled (54%). Forty three percentage of Urmia herbalists have used herbs for the treatment of cough.@*CONCLUSIONS@#People in this area have a strong belief that plants have a positive impact in the treatment of respiratory disorders and they have used medicinal plants since ancient times to treat these disorders. Our study revealed the importance of herbal medicines and traditional medicine in this area as medicinal resource for drug discovery in future.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To identify, present and review the respiratoty medicinal plants which used by Urmian herbalists. Methods: The list of traditional healers of West Azarbaijan Province was prepared and data were obtained by direct observation, interviews and the questionnaires After that, herbarium samples were collected from the desired area and deposited in herbarium unit of the Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran. Results: Our results demonstrated that 20 medicinal plants from 10 plant families are used to treat respiratory disorders. Also, the most plant part that used for treating of respiratory disorders was seed (27%) and the most traditional form prescribed by herbalists was boiled (54%). Forty three percentage of Urmia herbalists have used herbs for the treatment of cough. Conclusions: People in this area have a strong belief that plants have a positive impact in the treatment of respiratory disorders and they have used medicinal plants since ancient times to treat these disorders. Our study revealed the importance of herbal medicines and traditional medicine in this area as medicinal resource for drug discovery in future.