Traditional and Herbal Medicines, Regulation: Africa

Traditional and herbal medicine is an ancient practice that has provided a major source of affordable and accessible health care for the African population. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traditional and herbal medicine is the major source of primary health care for 80 percent of the African population. Traditional healers and specialists are fundamental to the practice of traditional and herbal medicine. Traditional medicine is defined as the knowledge or practices used in diagnosing, preventing, or eliminating a physical, mental, or social disease that may rely exclusively on past experience or observations handed down from preceding generations verbally or in writing. Traditional medicine also comprises therapeutic practices that have been in existence often for hundreds of years before the development of modern scientific ...