“… Man Piaba, Woman Piaba Tantan Fall-Back and Lemongrass
“Minnie Root, Gully Root Granny Back-Bone
“Bitter Tally, Lime leaf, and Toro…” – “West Indian Weed Woman” (1929)
Augustus ‘Bill Rogers’ Hinds – Shanto King
Usually, when the term traditional medicine is used, the mind conjures up herbal remedies much like the ones described in the song excerpted above. In many parts of the world, minor ailments like coughs and colds, fevers, headaches, toothaches, back pain, skin rashes, indigestion, diarrhoea and constipation among others were and still are treated with what is commonly referred to as bush medicine – herbs and tinctures that have been in use for, in some cases, hundreds of years.
Traditional medicine is more than that. While it includes the use of herbs and other plants, it also encompasses other skills and practices, like acupuncture, some of which have been and still are viewed with scepticism. Nevertheless, there is a growing body of research that points to success rates in the use of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine, including in instances where conventional drugs have failed.
Today, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, G20 health ministers and high-level invitees from countries across the World Health Organisa-tion’s (WHO) six regions, scientists, practitioners of traditional medicine, health workers and members of civil society organisations join WHO’s Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and regional directors in its first ever Traditional Medicine Global Summit. The meeting, which ends tomorrow, is intended to explore the role of traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine in addressing pressing health challenges and driving progress in global health and sustainable development. It also aims to scale up scientific advances and realise the potential of evidence-based knowledge in the use of traditional medicine for health and well-being around the world.
This is not due to happenstance. Twenty-one years ago, noting an uptick in its usage, the WHO had launched a traditional medicine strategy. As global use increased, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution on traditional medicine ten years ago. In 2014, as a follow up to that, the WHO updated its strategy, seeking to strengthen quality assurance of what was being produced, as well as promote traditional and complementary medicine as part of universal healthcare delivery.
Streamlining the production and usage of traditional medicine, which should have been done a long time ago, will remove any remaining uncertainty surrounding these remedies. Concerns could be put to rest over the correct quantities of ingredients and whether they would be better fresh or dried, which ailments they can be applied to, and if they should be used topically as opposed to being ingested. The knowledge with regard to these and other questions has in some instances been passed down sometimes by way of apprenticeship, but mostly orally. As is to be expected, there have been, at times, issues with memory.
Some countries, particularly in Asia and Africa, have long embraced traditional medicine or rather, never fully moved away from it. These are places where guesswork is not part of the equation, and herbal remedies in liquid and tablet form as well as soaps, oils and lotions are readily available in carefully measured and packaged portions. In keeping with modern practice, many also include ingredient lists and nutritional values where pertinent.
However, there also exists that which is colloquially known as ‘snake oil’ – so-called magical, medical remedies touted as cures, which are in fact nothing but spurious. There are instances where the failure of these ‘cures’ is due to ignorance or errors. Unfortunately, more often than not, they are conjured as pure artifice to fuel get-rich-quick schemes by the greedy. At the very least, they might leave the unsuspecting user seriously out of pocket; at the worst they could prove fatal.
These are among reasons that the WHO’s summit on traditional medicine is important. Scientists have long been conducting research on natural and herbal medicines and these contributions can only add to the efficacy of these remedies. Consistent dosages would result in accurate outcomes across the board. Woman Piaba, Granny Backbone and Lemongrass, for example, are among the non-scientific treatments already being used; ensuring their utmost safety could only redound to the benefit of all. Further research along these paths will also eventually lead, one hopes, to much needed breakthroughs in the health sector, in terms of cures and treatments for diseases currently plaguing mankind.
