International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) Volume 4 Issue 4, June 2020 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD30927 | Volume – 4 | Issue – 4 | May-June 2020 Page 123 African Traditional Medicine: A Primer Matthew N. O. Sadiku 1 , Tolulope J. Ashaolu 2 , Sarhan M. Musa 1 1 Roy G. Perry College of Engineering, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, USA 2 College of Food Science, Southwest University, Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, China ABSTRACT African traditional medicine is a holistic health practice that uses indigenous herbalism combined with some aspects of spirituality. It involves the direct application of herbal remedies, animal parts, or mineral materials for healing purposes. It is still the main source of healthcare delivery in almost all Africa nations in spite of the growth of religious enlightenment, western civilization, and modern medicine. It is often regarded as an alternative or complementary system of medicine. This paper provides an introduction on African traditional medicine. KEYWORDS: African traditional medicine, folk medicine, ethno-medicine, alternative medicine How to cite this paper: Matthew N. O. Sadiku | Tolulope J. Ashaolu | Sarhan M. Musa "African Traditional Medicine: A Primer" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456- 6470, Volume-4 | Issue-4, June 2020, pp.123-127, URL: www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd30927.pdf Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development Journal. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by /4.0) INTRODUCTION The desire to achieve good health cuts across national boundaries. Every region of the world has had one form of traditional medicine at some stage in its history. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of the emerging world’s population relies on traditional medicine. Traditional medicine (TM) refers to health practices that incorporate plant, animal, and mineral to treat, diagnose, and prevent illnesses. It is basically a system of health practice that is based on indigenous knowledge. Traditional medicine is variously known as ethno-medicine, folk medicine, native healing, complementary medicine or alternative medicine. An understanding of traditional medicine in any community should acknowledge its culture and history. Although TM has not been officially recognized in most countries, it remains a much neglected part of global healthcare due to many challenges it faces. In most developed nations, traditional medicine it is often described as “folk medicine” or “alternative medicine,” offered as an alternative to conventional modern medicine [1]. Africa is the cradle of mankind with cultural diversity African traditional medicine (ATM) is regarded as the oldest of all therapeutic systems. Traditional medicine is a major socio- economic and socio-cultural heritage for Africans with a long history of use.. Before the advent of Western medicine, Africans had developed their own effective way of dealing with health issues. Traditional African medicine (TAM) refers to indigenous forms of healing that are practiced all over the continent of Africa. It is the accumulation of knowledge and practices based on the cultural experiences used to maintain health as well as treat physical and mental illnesses. ATM is fundamentally different from modern medicine or other TMs such as Chinese traditional medicine and Indian traditional medicine. African traditional medicines are used for various illnesses and deceases including fever, malaria, headache, heartburn, pain, indigestion, boils, allergies, appetite stimulant, blood diseases, asthma, childbirth difficulties, cholera, cancers, depression, epilepsy, psychiatric disorders, skin cancer, etc.[2]. COMPONENTS OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE Regardless of the cause of illness, there is a solution in ATM, which seeks to strike a balance between the patients' body, soul, and spirit. As shown in Figure 1 [3], African traditional medicine is a holistic healthcare system that has three components or levels of specialty: divination, spiritualism, and herbalism [4].  Spiritualism: ATM has spiritual and non-spiritual components. Africans have a unique way of understanding the visible world around them and the invisible, supernatural world of spirits, powers, and diseases. Illnesses and diseases are often regarded as having both natural and supernatural causes; they must be treated by physical and spiritual means including divination, incantations, animal sacrifice, exorcism, and herbs. Diseases are mostly attributed to witchcraft/sorcery, gods or immortal ancestors, natural, as well as inherited. Illness is believed to be related to IJTSRD30927