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Traditional medicine in sub-Saharan Africa : its importance and potential policy options

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  • DeJong, Jocelyn

Abstract

This report indicates that about 20 percent of Africans who seek medical care first consult traditional healers. Patients tend to consult modern health care services for infectious or acute diseases, or those for which modern health care has been shown to be highly effective. But patients tend to consult traditional practitioners for chronic diseases, for diseases related to psychological or social disruption or to reproductive systems, for diseases that are slow to respond to treatment or deemed to be"magical"in origin. The prestige and credibility of traditional healers have been waning in the face of modernization and an increasingly educated public. Even so many highly educated people consult traditional practitioners. A survey in Ibadan of two groups - one educated elite, the other a traditional, less privileged group - found that roughly 70percent of both groups used traditional health care, particularly traditional drugs. The author shows that traditional medicine is an important source of health care for significant number of Africans and that traditional healers, particularly those who wield authority within their communities, are an important human resource for health care.

Suggested Citation

  • DeJong, Jocelyn, 1991. "Traditional medicine in sub-Saharan Africa : its importance and potential policy options," Policy Research Working Paper Series 735, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:735
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Constance McCorkle & Edward Green, 1998. "Intersectoral healthcare delivery," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 15(2), pages 105-114, June.
    2. Kaboru, Berthollet Bwira & Falkenberg, Torkel & Ndulo, Jane & Muchimba, Maureen & Solo, Kashita & Faxelid, Elisabeth, 2006. "Communities' views on prerequisites for collaboration between modern and traditional health sectors in relation to STI/HIV/AIDS care in Zambia," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(2-3), pages 330-339, October.
    3. Azusa Sato & Joan Costa-Font, 2014. "The Hedonic Procedural Effect of Traditional Medicines," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1061-1084, October.
    4. Osseo-Asare, Abena Dove, 2023. "“Don't use herbs in labor!”: Plants, pharmaceuticals, and the unmaking of traditional birth attendants in Ghana, 1970–2000," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    5. de-Graft Aikins, Ama, 2012. "Familiarising the unfamiliar: cognitive polyphasia, emotions and the creation of social representations," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 48049, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. de-Graft Aikins, Ama, 2005. "Healer shopping in Africa: new evidence from rural-urban qualitative study of diabetes experiences," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 49550, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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