Traditional medicine: Reawakening a "pending agendum"

Abstract

The current issue contains a review article on herbal medicine and faith healing as related to HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia that indicates the need for the implementation of appropriate policies and guidelines for the safe and effective use of useful traditional medical practices (1). The term "traditional medicine" refers to “ways of protecting and restoring health that existed before the arrival of modern medicine”(2), or to “health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being” (3). Over the years, there has been a growing interest in traditional/complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) and their relevance to public health both in developed and developing countries. Diversity, flexibility, easy accessibility, broad continuing acceptance, relative low cost, low levels of technological input, relative low side effects and growing economic importance are some of the positive features of traditional medicine (4). In addition, as most of the of the
populations in various developing countries around the world depen, on traditional medicine for primary health care, the World Health Assembly has adopted a number of resolutions that show the workforce represented by practitioners of traditional medicine is a potentially important resource for the delivery of health care and that medicinal plants are of great importance to the health of individuals and communities. Furthermore, as traditional medicine (TM) is either the mainstay of health care delivery or serves as a complement to it across the world, it has launched a strategy with goals that include: supporting member states in: harnessing the potential contribution of this subsector to health, wellness and people-centered health care; and promoting the safe and effective use of TM by regulating, researching and integrating TM products, practitioners and practice into health systems, where appropriate (5).