NATE121 SN02 Lecture IndigenousAfricanMedicine · NATE121 Session 02 Indigenous African Medicine...

NATE121

www.endeavour.edu.au

Session 02

Indigenous African

Medicine

Department of Social

Sciences

Dr Melisa Ryan Rangitakatu

© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 2

Session Aim

At the end of this session students should be able

to:

• Understand the historical and cultural contexts

of indigenous African medicine

• Define African worldview

• Describe indigenous African medicine practices


The Continent of Africa


Indigenous African History

o Believed to be the oldest continent on earth

o Evolution of the human species

o Stone Age – First human technology

o Neolithic Period - A wet and fertile Sahara (8000-

5000BC)

o Beginnings of agriculture

o Egyptian culture emerged along lower regions of the Nile

River around 3000BC


Egyptian Civilisation

o The world’s oldest and longest lasting civilisation

o The Egyptians developed:

• Mathematics

• Irrigation and agricultural techniques

• Writing

• Ships


Sub-Saharan Africa

2000-500 BC

o Bantu-speaking tribes migrated and settled into sub-

Saharan Africa

o Iron smelting

o The first Kingdoms of Sub-Saharan Africa are

established


Trade History

o Around 1550-300 BC – Maritime Trade, The Phoenicians

o 500BC – Trade increased between north and south of

Africa

o Ivory, salt, precious metals

o Slaves


Trade History

o Sea trade routes linked Africa, Asia and Europe

o Around 50 BC - Roman Empire conquered N. Africa

o 9th Century AD - Arabian Trade missions in N.E.Africa

o 15th Century AD – European trade exploration by the

Portuguese, Spanish and English

o 16th Century AD – Transportation of slaves to the

Americas


Cultural Context

o Long history of Africa leads to diverse cultural tapestry

o Arabic, Asian, Mediterranean and European influences

o All of Africa colonised, except Ethiopia and Liberia

o Impact of colonialism influenced systems of indigenous

knowledge

o Slavery, capitalism, colonialism influenced indigenous

African development (Adbullahi, 2011)


Activity 1.1

o What impact might Roman, Arabian and European

colonisation have had on indigenous African

development?


Religion in Africa

o Religious belief and practice is central to all aspects of

life in Africa

o Traditional religions were polytheistic

o God/Goddess worship was connected with earth

o European influence introduced Christianity

o Arabic influence introduced Islam


Egyptian Religion

o Divine spirit appeared when it became conscious of the

fact that it was different from primordial unformed

magma

o Through this consciousness, from freewill, divine spirit

initiated from the silence of the abyss

o Atum: Absolute Principle

o The creator: undifferentiated and asexual

o From this Wisdom appears, as the feminine aspect

embodying knowledge, beauty, harmony and fecundity

(Markale, 1997)


Egyptian Creationism

o Pantheon of Gods and Goddesses

o Creation came about then the male and female elements

were separated through the primordial couple, Maat and

Shu, coming from the cosmic egg

o The sky was a female diety (later becoming the Goddess

Hathor)

o Its complement was the masculine earth

o Later, the solar god, Ra became known as the masculine

god


Egyptian God/Goddesses


The Supernatural in African

Religions

o All African societies have a belief in God

o Many Africans conceptualise God as:

• Creator of all things

• Sustains all creation

• Provides for and protects creation

• Rules over the universe

• All powerful (omnipotent)

• All knowing (omniscient)

• Viewed as a parent

• Supports justice

• Human-beings cannot directly know God

(MSU, nd)


Indigenous African Spirituality

o Spirituality is based on connection with living or dead

spirits

o Traditional Medicine in Africa incorporates spirituality


Traditional Medicine in Africa

TM is ‘the sum total of the knowledge, skills and practices

based on theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to

different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the

maintenance of health, as well as in the prevention,

diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and

mental illnesses’ (WHO, 2000)

Traditional Medicine (TM) was the dominant medical

system available to millions of people in Africa



Traditional Healer:

o “A person who is recognised by the community where he

or she lives as someone competent to provide health

care by using plant, animal, and mineral substances and

other methods based on social, cultural and religious

practices.”

(WHO, 2000)



o TM in Africa is a holistic approach where herbalism

combines with spirituality

o Healers are called:

• Babalawo, Adahunse or Oniseegun (Yorba speaking people,

Nigeria)

• Abia ibok (Ibibio community, Nigeria)

• Dibia (Igbo community, Nigeria)

• Boka (Hausa speaking people, Nigeria)

• Sangoma or Nyanga (South African communities)

o Colonialists referred to them as “witchdoctors”



o The goal of TM practitioners was/is to reconnect the

social and emotional balance in patients

o Belief that religion permeates every aspect of existance

o This equilibrium was based on community and

relationship rules

o Traditional healers act as an intermediary between

visible and invisible worlds

o Determined which spirits are at work to return harmony

with ancestors

(Abdullahi, 2011)



o Healee is told the cause of their illness

o The therapeutic process requires reciprocity



Colonialism:

o Impacted social, economic, political, and indigenous

ways of knowing

o Introduction of Western medicine created a clash with

TM

o Delivery of medicine became empirically-based


Activity 1.2

Consider the following statement and discuss as a class:

“…During several centuries of conquest and invasion,

European systems of medicine were introduced by

colonisers, Pre-existing African systems were stigmatised

and marginalised. Indigenous knowledge systems were

denies the chance to systematise and develop.”

(Hassim et al. n.d, in Abdullahi, 2011)


TM in Colonial Africa

o 1953 - TM was banned in some places, particularly

S.Africa

o 1957 & 1970 - TM declared unconstitutional through the

Witchcraft Suppression Act

• ~ Evidence suggests that TM aetiology designation was both

natural and supernatural

o Stigmatisation of TM practice

o Mutual distrust between allopathic medicine and TM


Post-Colonial Africa

o Doctor:patient ratio (Cameroon) = 1:150 (Fokunang et al. 2011)

o Ratio of TM healers to medical doctors in Africa =

• 1:100 - 700 vs 1:987 – 70,000 (Abdullahi, 2011)

o Accessibility to healthcare impacts health

o TM is thought to be desirable for diseases that allopathic

medicine does not adequately treat (Abdullahi, 2011)


Post-Colonial Africa

o TM widely used in Africa to-date

o Ghana, Mali, Zambia and Nigeria:

o TM first-line treatment for 60% paediatric high fever (WHO,

2002)

o Burkina-Faso: increasing demand for TM to treat

neurological and rheumatic conditions

o Tanzania: convulsions

o Lagos, Nigeria: HTN

o 27 million South Africans report using TM

(Abdullahi, 2011)


TM in Post-Colonial Africa

o Concerted efforts recognising the role of TM in

healthcare delivery

o Nigeria: Governmental encouragement of research of

herbs

o Federal and State governments established National

Traditional Healers’ Board

o Policies to accredit and register TM practitioners

o Nigerian Healthcare Reform: Importance of TM in

Primary Care

(Abdullahi, 2011)


TM in Post-Colonial Africa

o Framework for millennium development in Cameroon

highlights health goals for the millennium

o WHO and Cameroon govt. strategic plan to integrate TM

into health care system

o Development of research into herbal indications

(Fokunang et al., 2011)


Barriers to Integrative Medicine

o Mistrust

o Opinions amongst

Western-trained

physicians/medical

students (Ebomoyi, 2009)

o Apathy

o Difficulties in

regulating practices

o Incorrect diagnoses

o(Fokunang et al., 2011)

o Dosage variability

o Herbal shelf-life

o Secret nature of

knowledge

o Absence of written

patient documentation

o Hygiene practices

o Evidence supporting

efficacy and indication


Indigenous Healing Practices

o Plants are chosen according to the imbalance

o White, black, red are considered symbolic and magical

o Seeds, twigs and leaves of these colours possess

healing properties

o Traditional African healers also employ charms,

incantations and spell casting

o Insects


Indigenous African Herbs

o Hepasor: used to treat Hepatitis


Assegaai Tincture

Common herbal remedy

in African medicine

Made from Curtisia

dentate

Important botanical used

by Zulus as an

aphrodisiac, recognised

to have properties to

treat diarrhoea and used

as a blood purifier


Ancistrocladus abbreviatus

o Action: Anti-HIV

o Constituent: Michellamine B

o From: Cameroon and Ghana


Cinchona succirubra

o Action: Anti-malarial

o Constituent: Quinine

o From: West African countries


Catharanthus roseus

o Action: Anti-Leukemia and Hodgkin’s disease

o Constituent: Triterpenoids, tannins and alkaloids

o From: Madagascar


References

Abdullahi, A. A. (2011). Trends and Challenges of Traditional Medicine

in Africa, African Journal Traditional Complementary Alternative

Medicine, 8(s): 115-123

Fokunang, et al. (2011). Traditional Medicine, Past, Present and Future

Research and Development Prospects and Integration In the

National Health System of Cameroon, African Journal

Traditional Complementary Alternative Medicine, 8 (3): 284-295

Markale, J., (1997) The Great Goddess. Inner Traditions International.

Rochester: Vermont

Michigan State University (nd). Exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu

SK Wirk, Pre-Colonial Africa. Retrieved from http://www.skwirk.com

World Atlas (nd)., African History. Retrieved from

http://www.worldatlas.com

http://www.skwirk.com/

http://www.worldatlas.com/

NATE121 SN02 Lecture IndigenousAfricanMedicine · NATE121 Session 02 Indigenous African Medicine...

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