Traditional Health Care Practices in Africa - 1583 Words

Traditional healing refers to a set of practices passed down through generations which intend to cure and prevent disease. In short, traditional medicine is the practice of health care based on traditional philosophy and the use of traditional medicine. In Africa, it presents as a holistic health care strategy which relies on an accumulation of knowledge of herbs and remedies which include plants, insects, and parts of animals. Traditional African healing is intertwined with traditional religions and spirituality. In Africa, traditional healing is administered by two different types of practitioners: sangoma (also called ngoma)—spiritual healers and diviners— and inyanga—herbalists. Although Africa is a continent of diverse cultures and†¦show more content†¦Sangoma will also administer these types of cures, but after a process of divination. Both sangoma and inyanga also provide amulets as a means of treating an illness. However, sangoma have another met hod available as well: that of cleansing. Cleansing is used as a means of ridding oneself of a negative influence. For this reason, it is administered by sangoma who are capable of determining that there is an imbalance through divination. Sangoma choose the method of cleansing when it is determined that an ancestor is upset because of the breaking of a rule or tradition. In order to restore the goodwill of the ancestor, the sangoma uses the blood of animals to cleanse the patient. Further, vomiting by means of an emetic solution are also used as a method of cleansing. The preventative function contains the elements of disease prevention and protection from evil magic. There is a more broad sense of the word medicine and the concept of disease covers a variety of misfortunes. Because of this broader definition, Berends explains, examples of preventative medicines are â€Å"insect repellants, crop sprays, and inoculations.† Rituals also play a role in the preventative function . Berends provides the example of placing beancakes at places where roads meet in order to avoid offending the spirits. This is preventative because spiritsShow MoreRelatedTraditional Medicine And Alternative Medicine1440 Words   |  6 PagesAfrican Traditional Medicine is we have to talk about what exactly Traditional Medicine is in general. Traditional Medicine is often referred to as folk medicine or alternative medicine. Folk Medicine is one of the oldest and most traditional forms of a health care system in Africa and has been tested time and time again. This method is an ancient form of healing that humans have used to cope and deal with many diseases that have threatened human existence. 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