A review of the role of African traditional medicinal plants in primary health care in South Africa скачать в хорошем качестве

A review of the role of African traditional medicinal plants in primary health care in South Africa

This is a presentation recorded at the 2023 joint conference of the Society for Economic Botany and Society of Ethnobiology, held at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia from June 4-9, 2023. #ethnobotany #ethnobiology #science #southafrica #medicinalplant #traditionalmedicine *** A review of the role of African traditional medicinal plants in primary health care in South Africa The traditional medical practices of the African continent, despite their ancient origins, were largely ignored or even actively discouraged by colonial authorities. Traditional practitioners, although highly respected members of their communities, played almost no role in the establishment of formal health care systems in Africa. In recent times, efforts have been made to comprehensively record the ethnobotany of South African traditional medicinal plants and practices. The aim of this study, based on a literature review, is to investigate where African traditional medicinal plant use and primary health care intersect in South Africa. Searches were performed using electronic databases such as Science Direct, Google Scholar, PubMed and MEDLINE via EBSCOhost. Using 'traditional medicinal plants' AND 'primary care' or 'primary health care' or 'primary healthcare' AND 'South Africa' as keywords, a total of 405 publications were found. A final vetting brought the number down to 26 papers that specifically included medicinal plants. A total of 556 species were mentioned, with the most cited being Hypoxis hemerocallidea (9x), Aloe ferox (8x), and Artemisia afra, Elephantorrhiza elephantina, Siphonochilus aethiopicus and Warburgia salutaris each cited seven times. Sixteen articles listed 'primary health care' in the key words, however, very few drew conclusions that directly relate to primary care practices, or primary health care systems in South Africa. There is a dearth of research from health care specialists investigating the role, impact or support that traditional medical practices and traditional medicinal plants offers to primary health care in this setting.