African Traditional Medicine

African Traditional Medicine
Author: DAVID OYEBOLA MD
Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2020-02-10
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1645155471

This book is written to provide information on various aspects of Yoruba, and, indeed, African traditional medicine. The writer's research on Yoruba traditional medicine provides the bulk of the materials in the book. The book consists of eleven chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide the background to the book. Chapters 3 to 10 encapsulate the different aspects of Yoruba traditional medicine such as classification of healers, methods of training of healers, methods of diagnosis and investigation of diseases, treatment of diseases, Yoruba pharmacopoeia, midwifery, bone-setting, and other forms of traditional surgery. Chapter 11 describes the meeting point of hospitals and healers; this meeting point, in the opinion of the author, should be how best to serve the interests of the patients. The best form of relationship that should exist between hospitals and healers is also discussed. The two systems of medicine exist side by side in Nigeria and most African countries yet remain functionally unrelated in any intentional sense. It is argued that no medical system is perfect and no single care system has all the answers to all human health and related problems. Each of the two systems has its strong and weak points. The often talked-about integration of the two systems has potential pitfalls and may be undesirable. The book concludes that the best form of relationship may well be one of genuine cooperation and mutual respect between the two systems since this will lead, in the ultimate, to advancement of medical knowledge and overall improvement of patient care. All levels of government in Nigeria have decisive roles to play in achieving this mutually beneficial cooperation of the two systems.

Biomedical Hegemony and Democracy in South Africa

Biomedical Hegemony and Democracy in South Africa
Author: Ngambouk Vitalis Pemunta
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2020-12-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004436421

In Biomedical Hegemony and Democracy in South Africa Ngambouk Vitalis Pemunta and Tabi Chama-James Tabenyang unpack the contentious South African government’s post-apartheid policy framework of the ‘‘return to tradition policy’’. The conjuncture between deep sociopolitical crises, witchcraft, the ravaging HIV/AIDS pandemic and the government’s initial reluctance to adopt antiretroviral therapy turned away desperate HIV/AIDS patients to traditional healers. Drawing on historical sources, policy documents and ethnographic interviews, Pemunta and Tabenyang convincingly demonstrate that despite biomedical hegemony, patients and members of their therapy-seeking group often shuttle between modern and traditional medicine, thereby making both systems of healthcare complementary rather than alternatives. They draw the attention of policy-makers to the need to be aware of ‘‘subaltern health narratives’’ in designing health policy.

Herbal Medicine

Herbal Medicine
Author: Iris F. F. Benzie
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 500
Release: 2011-03-28
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 1439807167

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

African Traditional Medicine

African Traditional Medicine
Author: David O. Oyebola Md
Publisher:
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2019-10-08
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9781645155461

This book is written to provide information on various aspects of Yoruba, and, indeed, African traditional medicine. The writer's research on Yoruba traditional medicine provides the bulk of the materials in the book. The book consists of eleven chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide the background to the book. Chapters 3 to 10 encapsulate the different aspects of Yoruba traditional medicine such as classification of healers, methods of training of healers, methods of diagnosis and investigation of diseases, treatment of diseases, Yoruba pharmacopoeia, midwifery, bone-setting, and other forms of traditional surgery. Chapter 11 describes the meeting point of hospitals and healers; this meeting point, in the opinion of the author, should be how best to serve the interests of the patients. The best form of relationship that should exist between hospitals and healers is also discussed. The two systems of medicine exist side by side in Nigeria and most African countries yet remain functionally unrelated in any intentional sense. It is argued that no medical system is perfect and no single care system has all the answers to all human health and related problems. Each of the two systems has its strong and weak points. The often talked-about integration of the two systems has potential pitfalls and may be undesirable. The book concludes that the best form of relationship may well be one of genuine cooperation and mutual respect between the two systems since this will lead, in the ultimate, to advancement of medical knowledge and overall improvement of patient care. All levels of government in Nigeria have decisive roles to play in achieving this mutually beneficial cooperation of the two systems.

Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries

Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries
Author: Dean T. Jamison
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 1449
Release: 2006-04-02
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0821361805

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.

Traditional Medicine in Africa

Traditional Medicine in Africa
Author: Isaac Sindiga
Publisher: East African Publishers
Total Pages: 224
Release: 1995
Genre: Medical
ISBN:

The inaccessibility of biomedicine to most of Africa's population because of escalating costs has necessitated a search for alternative ways of managing illnesses. Traditional medicine, which has always been practised in the indigenous cultures, is fast filling this therapeutic gap. This book is a collection of essays based on a multidisciplinary approach to traditional medicine in Africa. It has contributions from social scientists, natural resource experts, traditional medical practitioners, educationists, and medical scholars. It attempts to define the problems of traditional medicine in Africa, while also discussing the conceptual foundations of African ethnomedicine and medical pluralism.

Traditional and Complementary Medicine

Traditional and Complementary Medicine
Author: Cengiz Mordeniz
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2019-12-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1789841836

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.

Unequal Treatment

Unequal Treatment
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 781
Release: 2009-02-06
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 030908265X

Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider-patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.

The walk without limbs: Searching for indigenous health knowledge in a rural context in South Africa

The walk without limbs: Searching for indigenous health knowledge in a rural context in South Africa
Author: Gubela Mji
Publisher: AOSIS
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2019-12-12
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1928523110

In a country as diverse as South Africa, sickness and health often mean different things to different people – so much so that the different health definitions and health belief models in the country seem to have a profound influence on the health-seeking behaviour of the people who are part of our vibrant, multicultural society. This book is concerned with the integration of indigenous health knowledge (IHK) into the current Western--orientated Primary Health Care (PHC) model. The first section of the book highlights the challenges facing the training of health professionals using a curriculum that is not drawing its knowledge base from the indigenous context and the people of that context. Such professionals will later recognise that they are walking without limbs in matters pertaining to health. The area that was chosen for conducting the research was KwaBomvana in Xhora (Elliotdale), Eastern Cape province, South Africa. The people who reside there are called AmaBomvana. The area where the Bomvana peoples reside is served by Madwaleni Hospital and eight surrounding clinics. Qualitative ethnographic, feminist methods of data collection supported the research done for Section 1 of the book. Section 2 comprises the translation and implementation of PhD study outcomes and had contributions from various researchers. In the critical research findings of the PhD study, older Xhosa women identify the inclusion of social determinants of health as vital to the health problems they managed within their homes. For them, each disease is linked to a social determinant of health, and the management of health problems includes the management of social determinants of health. For them, it is about the health of the home and not just about the management of disease. They believe that healthy homes make healthy villages, and that the prevention of the development of disease is related to the strengthening of the home. Health and illness should be seen within both physical and spiritual contexts; without health, there can be no progress in the home. When defining health, the older Xhosa women add three critical components to the WHO health definition, namely, food security, healthy children and families, and peace and security in their villages. Prof. Mji further proposes that these three elements should be included in the next revision of the WHO health definition because they are not only important for the Bomvana people where the research was conducted, but also for the rest of humanity. In light of the promise of National Health Insurance and the revitalisation of PHC, this book proposes that these two major national health policies should take cognisance of the IHK utilised by the older Xhosa women. In addtion to what this research implies, these policies should also take note of all IHK from the indigenous peoples of South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world, and that there should be a clear plan as to how the knowledge can be supported within a health care systems approach.