BY MENGESHA AMARE
The spectacular and diverse landscape Ethiopia possesses has been suitable to grow a range of flora that can evidently be used for composing medicines perhaps solely known by finger counted individuals.
Ethiopians have been practicing medicinal plants for human and animal treatments since time immemorial. Riverbanks, bushes, forested areas and their outskirts, woodlands, grasslands, and home gardens are known for their being preferable locales of herbal medicines.
Because of this, healing plants are very vital in providing traditional medicines, prepared by local healers thereby curing different types of diseases that potentially affect local community. This writer approached Tamirat Zerga, a traditional healer, living around Shiromeda, Addis Ababa, originally from West Abbaya, to have a piece of idea about herbal medicines and their association with modern prescription.
He said that as a result of traditional uses and effectiveness of the curative plants, traditional healers have been known for their provision of remedy for local societies keeping cultural values undamaged.
“As far as I know, those who have conducted researches in this regard reaffirmed that the traditional health practitioners have a promising knowledge of medicinal plants used to treat different diseases of the society in their respective community, and family based apprenticeship has been the principal source of knowledge for majority of the healers,” Tamrat expressed.
He said, “I have known a range of herbs those apt for different types of diseases especially for sores, skin rashes and hemorrhoids. In addition to these contributions pertinent to traditional medications and cultural values, each medicinal plant could provide the society with opportunities to carry out multipurpose tasks.”
As to Tamrat, the government in collaboration with professionals peculiarly from plant science has to well focus on identifying and employing medicinal plants used for traditional treatments and takes appropriate measures to get them assimilated with modern medication subsequent to scientific approval.
“There are a number of medicinal plant species in the country whose leaves, buds, roots and barks are the main parts for the preparation and composition of traditional medicines. The known herbal medicine practitioners have been providing patients with various traditional medications so as to help them soothe pain even to the extent that cure them from diseases such as stomachache, headache, diarrhea, asthma, dysentery, malaria, evil eyes, cancer, skin diseases and tumors,” he said.
Herbal medicines used for traditional healing have been playing a significant role in the healthcare of the majority of the people in the nation. However, he said adding they are highly susceptible to extinction due to major threats like rampant of urbanization and agriculture expansion, deforestation, loss of habitation among others.
As to Tamirat, community-centered participatory conservation mechanisms have to be applied and well consolidated to rescue these important plants from obliteration via preserving their natural sites.
“Though the majority of Ethiopians have been using traditional medicine since long back as they are dependent on traditional medicines, the contribution traditional healers have made to modern public health system is quite trifling.
Aselef Demena, a resident of Kebena got along with this writer while she has above neck oiled with a green fluid said herbal medicines have been widely used in urban areas such as in Addis Ababa and traditional healers have considerably contributed to public health care.
She said, “The majority of the community has made traditional healers their first choice when they faced health problems like hemorrhoid and acne, but there is a problem following absence of cooperation with modern health professionals. The reasons are lack of motivation to collaborate and communicate with modern health service workers.”
The contribution of traditional healers to the public health system will be better if the system of synchronizing them with modern health arrangements is well exercised, Aselef opined.
Responding to the question posed on her ‘What does, do you think, a traditional healer mean? Aselef replied to it saying, “An educated or layperson, I think, who claims ability or a healing power to cure ailments drawing lessons from ancestors and basing power or rehearsal on supernatural religion, exercise and traineeship or family birthright. These people could have a particular skill to treat specific types of afflictions and might have gained a reputation in their own respective society or elsewhere.”
Aselef further said that the major reasons behind an increase in the use of herbal medicines are traditional acceptability, apparent effectiveness, and affordability, psychological comfort, among others.
As learned from Aselef, the medicinal plants have shown very effective medicinal values for some diseases of humans and livestock especially in rural localities with regard to the latter.
“Due to the trust of communities on medicinal values of traditional medicines, culturally associated norms, and their relatively low cost, medicinal plants are highly demanded in Ethiopia both in urban and rural localities,” stated Aselef.
According to Tamirat, traditional medicine in Ethiopia is faced with sustainability and continuity problem mainly due to the loss of assortment of medicinal plants and lack of quality control for herbal medicines. Besides, the medicinal plant materials and associated traditional knowledge are being lost due to lack of systematic conservation, research, proper utilization, and certification.
He further explained and said, the knowledge on identifying and employing medicine herbs is mostly associated with local and senior people, who transferred their knowledge verbally as such verbal knowledge transmissions have resulted in eroding and loss of knowledge and the plant as well.
Yes, said Tamrat, “We, as traditional healers have accustomed to harvest leaves, roots, barks, seeds, fruits, stems, flowers, or latex of medicinal plants to prepare herbal medicines for patient treatments.”
Asked about why most herbal medicines are composed on leaves, Tamirat explained that the main reason that many traditional medicine practitioners used the leaf compared to other parts for remedial preparation is due to their accessibility and for preventing the plants from extinction. “Actually, harvesting the root parts of the medicinal plant for preparation of traditional medicines has a negative repercussion on the existence of the plants themselves in the year to come. That is why most of the remedial plants are currently at risk, declining highly due to them using their root parts.”
The Ethiopian Herald April 16/2021
