Bapedi traditional healers in the Limpopo Province, South Africa: their socio-cultural profile and traditional healing practice

Conclusions: The current study has shown that Bapedi traditional healers could play a leading role in both the preservation of indigenous knowledge and the use of medicinal plants. However, of concern is the traditional methods (via consulting ancestors) employed by most of these healers in determining efficacy of remedies, thus indicating a need for a scientific investigations to establish their safety and effectiveness. Equally, there is a need to educate traditional practitioners' regarding the significant of various conservation legislations in their traditional healing. By addressing these, the national and provincial legislators, medical fraternity as well as environmental agencies will be able to better integrate them in primary health care systems and environmental management.
Source: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Source Type: research