Traditional Healers and Childhood in Zimbabwe

Traditional Healers and Childhood in Zimbabwe. Pamela Reynolds. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1996. 184 pp.     

Women as Healers; Women as Clients: The Encounter Between Traditional Arab Women Healers and Their Clients

Interviews conducted with Arab women in Israel who sought treatment from traditional women healers show that such women undergo a change of both a personal and a social nature after the visit. This study enumerates and analyzes the aspects of this change and concludes that visiting traditional Arab women healers constitutes a coping path that empowers clients. Such empowerment, achieved primarily by clients who maintain regular, extended contact with healers, is not social but personal and follows traditional norms without challenging them. This is a model of practical empowerment that derives from the accepted norms of its culture, implying the existence of an empowering agent and an individual who are involved in a process of growth in a social context that embodies numerous restrictions.     

Mesoamerican Healers

Mesoamerican Healers. Brad R. Huber and Alan R. Sandstrom. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001. 403 pp.     

Educational Intervention Increased Referrals to Allopathic Care by Traditional Healers in Three High HIV-Prevalence Rural Districts in Mozambique

Introduction

Delayed uptake of clinical services impedes favorable clinical outcomes in Mozambique. Care is delayed among patients who initiate care with traditional healers; patients with conditions like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or tuberculosis are rarely referred to the health system in a timely fashion.

Methods

We conducted a pre-post educational intervention with traditional healers, assessing healer referral rates and HIV knowledge in three rural districts in Zambézia Province.

Results

The median monthly referral rate prior to the intervention was 0.25 patients (interquartile range [IQR]: 0–0.54) compared with a post-intervention rate of 0.34 patients (IQR: 0–0.71), a 35% increase (p = 0.046). A median HIV knowledge score of 67% (IQR: 59–78) was noted 4-months pre-intervention and a median score of 81% (IQR: 74–89) was recorded 2½ months post-intervention (p<0.001). One hundred and eleven healers referred 127 adults, 36 pregnant women, and 188 children to health facilities. Referred patients were most likely to be diagnosed with bronchopneumonia (20% adults; 13% children) and/or malaria (15% adults; 37% children). Of 315 non-pregnant persons referred, 3.5% were tested for HIV and 2.5% were tested for tuberculosis.

Discussion

We engaged traditional healers with some success; referral rates were low, but increased post-intervention. Once seen in the clinics, patients were rarely tested for HIV or tuberculosis, though symptoms suggested screening was indicated. We found increased referral rates through an inexpensive intervention with traditional healers, a viable, cost-effective method of directing patients to health facilities. However, quality improvement within the clinics is necessary before a substantial impact can be expected.     

Tropical Forest Healers and Habitat Preference

Tropical forests represent repositories of medicinal plant species and indigenous ethnomedical knowledge. These biotic and cognitive resources are threatened by forest removal and culture change. It has, however, yet to be demonstrated quantitatively that tropical pharmacopoeias are concentrated in primary as opposed to disturbed forests, nor that folk ethnomedical knowledge is disappearing. I examined these questions by means of a useful species enumeration of 1-hectare primary and secondary forest plots, and a survey of the regional plant pharmacopoeia of the Atlantic forests of Bahia, Brazil, a region that has witnessed significant human and biological modification. Healers demonstrated a strong preference for disturbed over primary forest. Second growth forest plots yielded 2.7 times the number of medicinal species identified in primary forest plots. The regional survey likewise elicited an ethnoflora characterized by herbaceous, weedy, cultivated, and exotic taxa. These results may reflect the availability and intrinsic medicinal value of disturbance species, as well as the increasing rarity of the region’s primary forests. They may also represent the long term outcome of culture change, cognitive erosion, and reformulation of the region’s perceived healing flora.     

Borders and Healers: Brokering Therapeutic Resources in Southeast Africa

Borders and Healers: Brokering Therapeutic Resources in Southeast Africa . Tracy J. Luedke and Harry G. West, eds. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. 223 pp.     

Risks to Birds Traded for African Traditional Medicine: A Quantitative Assessment

Few regional or continent-wide assessments of bird use for traditional medicine have been attempted anywhere in the world. Africa has the highest known diversity of bird species used for this purpose. This study assesses the vulnerability of 354 bird species used for traditional medicine in 25 African countries, from 205 genera, 70 families, and 25 orders. The orders most represented were Passeriformes (107 species), Falconiformes (45 species), and Coraciiformes (24 species), and the families Accipitridae (37 species), Ardeidae (15 species), and Bucerotidae (12 species). The Barn owl (Tyto alba) was the most widely sold species (seven countries). The similarity of avifaunal orders traded is high (analogous to “morphospecies”, and using Sørensen''s index), which suggests opportunities for a common understanding of cultural factors driving demand. The highest similarity was between bird orders sold in markets of Benin vs. Burkina Faso (90%), but even bird orders sold in two geographically separated countries (Benin vs. South Africa and Nigeria vs. South Africa) were 87% and 81% similar, respectively. Rabinowitz''s “7 forms of rarity” model, used to group species according to commonness or rarity, indicated that 24% of traded bird species are very common, locally abundant in several habitats, and occur over a large geographical area, but 10% are rare, occur in low numbers in specific habitats, and over a small geographical area. The order with the highest proportion of rare species was the Musophagiformes. An analysis of species mass (as a proxy for size) indicated that large and/or conspicuous species tend to be targeted by harvesters for the traditional medicine trade. Furthermore, based on cluster analyses for species groups of similar risk, vultures, hornbills, and other large avifauna, such as bustards, are most threatened by selective harvesting and should be prioritised for conservation action.     

Knowledge and Uses of African Pangolins as a Source of Traditional Medicine in Ghana

Traditional medicine has been practised in Ghana for centuries with the majority of Ghanaians still patronising the services of traditional healers. Throughout Africa a large number of people use pangolins as a source of traditional medicine, however, there is a dearth of information on the use of animals in folk medicine in Ghana, in particular the use of pangolins. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalent use of pangolins and the level of knowledge of pangolin use among traditional healers in Ghana for the treatment of human ailments. Data was gathered from 48 traditional healers using semi-structured interviews on the traditional medicinal use of pangolin body parts in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana. The cultural importance index, relative frequency of citation, informant agreement ratio and use agreement values were calculated to ascertain the most culturally important pangolin body part as well as the level of knowledge dissemination among traditional healers with regards pangolin body parts. Our study revealed that 13 body parts of pangolins are used to treat various medicinal ailments. Pangolin scales and bones were the most prevalent prescribed body parts and indicated the highest cultural significance among traditional healing practices primarily for the treatment of spiritual protection, rheumatism, financial rituals and convulsions. Despite being classified under Schedule 1 of Ghana’s Wildlife Conservation Act of 1971 (LI 685), that prohibits anyone from hunting or being in possession of a pangolin, our results indicated that the use of pangolins for traditional medicinal purposes is widespread among traditional healers in Ghana. A study on the population status and ecology of the three species of African pangolins occurring in Ghana is urgently required in order to determine the impact this harvest for traditional medical purposes has on their respective populations as current levels appear to be unmonitored and unsustainable.     

The Haitians, the Healers, and the Anthropologist. Two Case Studies

The Haitians, the Healers, and the Anthropologist. Two Case Studies. 1997. 100 minutes, color. video by Philip Singer. For more information contact Traditional Healing Productions, Philip Singer. Ph.D. 17280 Madison. Southfield, MI 48076.     

Medicinal plants of two Mayan Healers from San Andres,Peten, Guatemala

This study records 81 species of medicinal plants used in San Andrés, Petén. The primary source of information was an elderly Maya-speaking couple employed as traditional healers. Voucher specimens were collected, the majority from surrounding secondary forest; local names, medicinal uses, growth form, and habitat were noted. The plant families providing most species were Asteraceae and Rubiaceae. A lack of apprentices threaten continuation of this tradition in the community.     

Naturalistic Exhibits May be More Effective Than Traditional Exhibits at Improving Zoo-Visitor Attitudes toward African Apes

Zoos play a unique role in wildlife conservation, particularly in the area of conservation education. Because of their popularity and flagship status for broader conservation issues, great apes may prove to be one of the most important educational conduits in zoos. In 2002, we surveyed knowledge of and attitudes toward African apes in visitors to the Lester E. Fisher Great Ape House (GAH) at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL, USA. In the current study, we replicated the survey to document attitudes to and knowledge of the newly renovated and naturalistic Regenstein Center for African Apes (RCAA) and compared results. We found RCAA was no more effective than GAH in increasing visitor knowledge about apes, although visitors answered more questions correctly upon exit than on entrance in both buildings. We did find, however, that RCAA was more effective than GAH at improving visitor attitudes toward chimpanzees. Specifically, upon exiting, RCAA visitors showed increased naturalistic attitudes and reduced utilitarian attitudes toward chimpanzees. Exhibiting apes in naturalistic settings may therefore be an effective way to increase visitor concern for apes in nature and in zoos. Zoos and aquariums investing in new, naturalistic ape exhibits with the aim to educate about, provide emotional connections to, improve attitudes toward, and ultimately increase conservation of apes, need to then critically evaluate whether the actual effect of the designed environment on visitors—above and beyond intended benefits for the animals—is commensurate with the investment. The broader impacts of even small shifts in visitor attitude in the right direction could be significant. These findings may vary across species and settings, however, and should be assessed accordingly.     

Cartography in the Traditional African, American, Arctic, Australian, and Pacific Societies.

Cartography in the Traditional African, American, Arctic, Australian, and Pacific Societies. David Woodward and G.Malcolm Lewis. eds. The History of Cartography. Volume 2. Book 3. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1998.662 pp.     

Solar-Dried Traditional African Vegetables in Rural Tanzania: Awareness,Perceptions, and Factors Affecting Purchase Decisions

Economic Botany - This paper analyzes rural households’ awareness, perceptions, and factors influencing decisions to purchase solar-dried traditional African vegetables (TAVs). Solar-dried...