Traditional medicine (TM) has a long and rich history. TM refers to healing systems that have been used by various ethnic populations and countries for thousands of years—long before the arrival of allopathic, or contemporary, Western medicine. TM evolves from the specific and unique characteristics of the culture, history, philosophy, and availability of resources in different parts of the world. Today, approximately 65% to 85% of the world’s population relies on traditional medicine as their primary form of health care (Center for Health and Healing, 2013; World Health Organization [WHO], 2001).
According to the WHO (2013), TM is defined as the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not. TM is used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. Globally, traditional medicine (TM) is either the mainstay of health care delivery for billions of people, or it serves as a complement to it. In some countries, TM or non-conventional medicine may also be called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) (WHO, 2013).
According to the WHO (2001), traditional medicine and the incredibly diverse range of practices it encompasses makes it difficult to describe, especially in a global context. Often, the extensive knowledge of traditional medicine practitioners is passed down orally from generation to generation, it can be located within families specializing in specific treatments, or it can be taught in officially recognized universities. It can be very restricted (geographically), or it can be found in diverse regions of the world. Most commonly, a medical system is called “traditional” when it is practiced within the country of origin.
Traditional indigenous healing is becoming increasingly popular due to the global as well as national focus on New Age, holistic, and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). In addition, the appeal and use of traditional and CAM medicine has increased in the past several decades because it is more accessible, more affordable, more closely aligned with the patient’s ideology, and less paternalistic than allopathic medicine. For many millions of people (especially in developing countries), herbal medicines, traditional treatments, and traditional healers are the only source of care to which they have access. For example, in Africa, the ratio of traditional healers to population is 1:500 whereas the ration of medical doctors to population is 1:40,000 (WHO, 2013). TM care is often available close to home (since travel can be difficult and often dangerous in many countries, and it is culturally acceptable and trusted (WHO, 2001; WHO, 2013).