Africa: A Herbal Approach to What Ails Us

analysis

Traditional medicine is a valid healthcare alternative in African communities if regulated

The use of traditional medicine and its perceived negative impact has raised several concerns, and given rise to a dilemma. On the one hand is the notion that traditional medicine is not clinically tested in the way that modern medicine is, and on the other, many people overlook the fact that most traditional herbs, or their extracts, are used extensively in modern pharmaceutics. This debate is often uninformed in that the dominant issue is the governance of traditional healing systems rather than the merits of the respective practices per se. All medical practices are susceptible to malpractice. The difference, arguably, is that there are standard governance processes overseeing the practice of modern medicine, to root out charlatans.

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