" A Handbook on African Traditional Healing Approaches & Research Practices " is a rich collection of well-researched articles on indigenous healing. These articles, from a broad range of researchers, pertain to a broad range of communities. They discuss healing practices in the realm of the spiritual, the medicinal, nutritional and more. Some demonstrate a clear relationship between modern and traditional medicine through pharmacological analysis. The practical examples documented capture the effectiveness of indigenous healing as practised by a large number of societies. That indigenous healing practices face the risk extinction is a theme that runs through the contributions. Indeed, without practical (and urgent) steps to preserve such knowledge for posterity, future generations will not have the benefit of time-tested knowledge such as this. The risk of loss of such knowledge that has been passed down generations would be a major loss to humankind. This collection, in part, addresses that risk through systematic research and documentation. What others say " "We have always known that divine law and scientific law are connected, and more important than just knowing it, we live it. This book reaffirms our need to view life cosmologically." " - Kai ner Maa Pitanta, Toronto, Canada " "This book is a must read for anyone who believes that one can blindly trust the foods we eat and the medicines that are "supposed" to heal us. It is enlightening to know that there are natural cures for most things and that we have had the answers to many of our illnesses from the beginning of time." " - Natasha Burford, University of Toronto, Canada " "This work, in part, addresses the debate with respect to the value of traditional healing practices. It is must read for everyone concerned about the society's health, especially in the face of documented limitations of western medicine." " - Matunda Nyanchama, ICT Professional and Publisher

This book is written to provide information on various aspects of Yoruba, and, indeed, African traditional medicine. The writer's research on Yoruba traditional medicine provides the bulk of the materials in the book. The book consists of eleven chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide the background to the book. Chapters 3 to 10 encapsulate the different aspects of Yoruba traditional medicine such as classification of healers, methods of training of healers, methods of diagnosis and investigation of diseases, treatment of diseases, Yoruba pharmacopoeia, midwifery, bone-setting, and other forms of traditional surgery. Chapter 11 describes the meeting point of hospitals and healers; this meeting point, in the opinion of the author, should be how best to serve the interests of the patients. The best form of relationship that should exist between hospitals and healers is also discussed. The two systems of medicine exist side by side in Nigeria and most African countries yet remain functionally unrelated in any intentional sense. It is argued that no medical system is perfect and no single care system has all the answers to all human health and related problems. Each of the two systems has its strong and weak points. The often talked-about integration of the two systems has potential pitfalls and may be undesirable. The book concludes that the best form of relationship may well be one of genuine cooperation and mutual respect between the two systems since this will lead, in the ultimate, to advancement of medical knowledge and overall improvement of patient care. All levels of government in Nigeria have decisive roles to play in achieving this mutually beneficial cooperation of the two systems.

This book is written to provide information on various aspects of Yoruba, and, indeed, African traditional medicine. The writer's research on Yoruba traditional medicine provides the bulk of the materials in the book. The book consists of eleven chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide the background to the book. Chapters 3 to 10 encapsulate the different aspects of Yoruba traditional medicine such as classification of healers, methods of training of healers, methods of diagnosis and investigation of diseases, treatment of diseases, Yoruba pharmacopoeia, midwifery, bone-setting, and other forms of traditional surgery. Chapter 11 describes the meeting point of hospitals and healers; this meeting point, in the opinion of the author, should be how best to serve the interests of the patients. The best form of relationship that should exist between hospitals and healers is also discussed. The two systems of medicine exist side by side in Nigeria and most African countries yet remain functionally unrelated in any intentional sense. It is argued that no medical system is perfect and no single care system has all the answers to all human health and related problems. Each of the two systems has its strong and weak points. The often talked-about integration of the two systems has potential pitfalls and may be undesirable. The book concludes that the best form of relationship may well be one of genuine cooperation and mutual respect between the two systems since this will lead, in the ultimate, to advancement of medical knowledge and overall improvement of patient care. All levels of government in Nigeria have decisive roles to play in achieving this mutually beneficial cooperation of the two systems.

This book focuses on informed consent in African Traditional Medicine (ATM). ATM forms a large portion of the healthcare systems in Africa. WHO statistics show that as much as 80% of the population in Africa uses traditional medicine for primary health care. With such a large constituency, it follows that ATM and its practices should receive more attention in bioethics. By comparing the ethics of care approach with the ATM approach to Relational Autonomy In Consent (RAIC), the authors argue that the ATM focus on consent based on consensus constitutes a legitimate informed consent. This book is distinctive insofar as it employs the ethics of care as a hermeneutic to interpret ATM. The analysis examines the ethics of care movement in Western bioethics to explore its relational approach to informed consent. Additionally, this is the first known study that discusses healthcare ethics committees in ATM.

In August 2004, South Africa officially sought to legally recognize the practice of traditional healers. Largely in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and limited both by the number of practitioners and by patients’ access to treatment, biomedical practitioners looked toward the country’s traditional healers as important agents in the development of medical education and treatment. This collaboration has not been easy. The two medical cultures embrace different ideas about the body and the origin of illness, but they do share a history of commercial and ideological competition and different relations to state power. Healing Traditions: African Medicine, Cultural Exchange, and Competition in South Africa, 1820–1948 provides a long-overdue historical perspective to these interactions and an understanding that is vital for the development of medical strategies to effectively deal with South Africa’s healthcare challenges. Between 1820 and 1948 traditional healers in Natal, South Africa, transformed themselves from politically powerful men and women who challenged colonial rule and law into successful entrepreneurs who competed for turf and patients with white biomedical doctors and pharmacists. To understand what is “traditional” about traditional medicine, Flint argues that we must consider the cultural actors and processes not commonly associated with African therapeutics: white biomedical practitioners, Indian healers, and the implementing of white rule. Carefully crafted, well written, and powerfully argued, Flint’s analysis of the ways that indigenous medical knowledge and therapeutic practices were forged, contested, and transformed over two centuries is highly illuminating, as is her demonstration that many “traditional” practices changed over time. Her discussion of African and Indian medical encounters opens up a whole new way of thinking about the social basis of health and healing in South Africa. This important book will be core reading for classes and future scholarship on health and healing in Africa.

Raising the Dust explores the relationship between human and ecological health through the lens of African traditional medicine, as practiced in the south of Malawi. The book employs an ethnographic methodology using the primary methods of semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The fieldwork for the research was conducted in the Mulanje Mountain Biosphere and the findings are presented as a narrative exploration of insider and outsider positions, in this context. The conceptual framework for the book encompasses a broad range of ecological ideas, focussing mainly on traditional ecological knowledge and radical ecology. The holistic theoretical framework for the book emerges in a grounded way from out of the fieldwork experience. The book is written in plain language and will appeal to anyone interested in holistic health outlooks, particularly cross-cultural health and wellbeing narratives.