Sustaining Tradition and Fulfilling Agreements on Traditional Medicine Since the Alma Ata Conference| Stephy Publishers

 

Global Research in Archaeological Science - (GRAS)| Stephy Publishers

Abstract

Introduction:The implementation of traditional medicine strategies and their integration into the mainstream health systems by African governments has been a difficult process since its recommendation at the Alma Ata Conference of 1978.

Objectives: This paper seeks to review how traditional medicine has survivedand what various African countries have done to implement traditional healthcare strategies and their integration into the national health systems as recommended by the Alma Alta conference of 1978.

Methodology: We purposively selected developed, middle income and African countries for the purpose of this review.We reviewed traditional medicine policies and programs in elevenpurposively selected countries from different political and economic blocks. We conducted a review of published works on traditional medicine implementation with more focus on the African continent. We have used the historical and thematic perspectives to obtain, organize and report data from published documents.

Results: There is the public use of traditional medicine in every African country at very high proportions. African governments celebrate African Traditional Medicine Days. But very few African countries have fully implemented Alma Ata recommended traditional medicine strategies and integrated traditional medicine into their national health systems to the latter. Strong adherence to tradition has kept traditional medicine in African alive. However, the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has revealed strong adherence of Africans and their governments to African Traditional Medicine. But the developed world sticks to standard conventional medical practices. This reverence is an acknowledgment of the truism that rather than integrating African medicine into conventional medicine, proponents of African medicine would want to operate parallel to conventional medicine or integrate it into the African medical system.

Conclusion: African medicine exists in Africa as a culturally bound practice, therefore, providing solutions to health problems in situations where conventional medicine may not. It exists on its own without a real and strong legal framework to guide its practice because of its conflicting parallel validation methods to conventional medicine.

Keywords

African medicine, Traditional medicine, Implementation, Integration,Strategies, National health system, Alma ata

Introduction

Medicine has existed as part of human culture amongst all populations of theworld. All medicine started as being traditional to a given people until standard methods became available to test for toxicity, safety, and efficacy. Traditional medicine isone of the oldest, and perhaps the most assorted, of all therapeutic systems.¹ The practice of medicine has been evolving differently according to peo ple's needs and technologies. Public health technology grounded countries have distinguished and named medicine differently. Someanthropologists have named western or conventional medicine as biomedicine and medicines of other cultures as ethno medicine. Biomedicine, though originating from Western culture, is universal. Any other medical practices besides biomedicine are considered ethnomedicine, otherwise known as traditional medicine. Africa and Asia are some of those continents with extensive and intensive practice of medicine grounded on their cultural practices. However, developed and middle income countries practice traditional medicine and call it complementary and alternative medicine or integrate it into mainstream conventional medicine. The most common traditional medicine in common practice across the African continent is the use of medicinal plants alongside divination. In many parts of Africa, medicinal plants are the most easily accessible health resource available to communities.¹ Also, they are most often the preferred option for the patients. In Asia, meditation is deeply rooted in the medical systems inherent there.


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