Importance Of Traditional Medicine

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Traditional Medicine: A Modern Context

Modern medicine is finally starting to accommodate traditional medicine, though traditional medicine is still overlooked or regarded as a primitive form of treatment, providing nothing but placebo effects. According to the American National Cancer Institute, modern medicine is:
A system in which medical doctors and other healthcare professionals (such as nurses, pharmacists, and therapists) treat symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation, or surgery. (NCI, para. 1)
On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines traditional medicine as:
The sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable
Chinese-American Charles Feng (2012) remarks in the peer-reviewed Journal of Young Investigators, that traditional medicine differs vastly in its philosophy from allopathic medicine, and the combination of traditional and allopathic medicine is more effective than either independent healthcare system (para. 17). The integration of traditional medicine causes doctors to become familiar with strong and weak facets of either system, and expand their understanding of their patient’s health and treatment (para.
According to Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), the world 's largest plant conservation network, the primary form of health care for five billion people is traditional plant-based medicine (Hawkins, 2006, p. 3). This population is mainly concentrated in the developing world. In Africa, 80% of the population relies primarily on traditional medicine, because allopathic healthcare systems are out of reach, both through distance and cost (Elujoba, 2005, para. 4). Anthony Elujoba, a professor of Pharmacognosy at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, argues that an “[e]ffective health agenda for the African continent can never be achieved by orthodox medicine alone unless it is complemented by traditional medicine practice” (para. 4). Institutionalizing traditional medicine would provide more funding for doctors who practice traditional medicine, allowing them to improve facilities and treatment. Countries that do not have access to mainstream health care must integrate traditional medicine into healthcare systems to provide support for the industry, while continuing to make mainstream healthcare a

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