Review of Related Literature

Folk Herbalist
- Tested the curative effects of herbal medicines

- Handed from generations to generations

- Moral support and psychological comfort from

patients

- High social status and are well respected

• Modern drugs
- cheaper
- decline of herbal medicines popularity

• 1992 - Administrative Order No.12

- Traditional Medicine Program
- Senator Juan Flavier
- Promotion of Traditional Medicine

• RA 8423
Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act
(TAMA)
Philippine Institute of Traditional and
Alternative Health Care (PITAHC)

“Traditional and alternative health care in

the hands of the people”
- A Government owned and controlled
corporation (GOCC)
- To deliver the traditional alternative health
care.
 Republic Act 8423
• Alternative Healthcare - used in the
prevention, diagnosis and elimination of
physical or mental disorder

• Traditional Medicine
– Recognized by the people
– interrelations based on culture, history,
heritage and consciousness
According to the DOH, the health sector falls
short due to:

- inappropriate health delivery system

- inadequate health regulatory mechanisms
- poor health care financing
 Traditional Health Program
(10 Halamang Gamot)
Herbal Plants Indications
Akapulko (Cassia alata) ringworms and skin fungal infections, expectorant
for bronchitis and dyspnea, mouthwash in
stomatitis, diuretic, purgative, anti-pyretic, laxative
Ampalaya (Momordica charantia) Diabetes Mellitus, rheumatism, gout, hypertension,
anti-pyretic, disinfectant, anti-diarrhea, enhances
immunes system, and remedy for cough
Bawang (Allium sativum) Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cough and cold, sore
throat, toothache
Bayabas (Psidium guajava) Antiseptic, mouth wash, anti-pyretic, anti-
rheumatism
Lagundi (Vitex negundo) Asthma, cough, colds, removal of worms and boils

Niyog-niyogan (Quisqualis indica L.) Elimination of intestinal worms

Sambong (Blumea balsamifera) Urinary stones, dysentery, sore throat

Tsaang Gubat (Ehretia microphylla Lam.) Intestinal motility

Ulasimang Bato (Peperomia pellucida) Arthritis, gout, pimples, headache, abdominal pain

Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii) Analgesic, indigestion

Ethnopharmacology
• scientific study that correlates ethnic groups, their
health practices, and how it relates to their physical
habits and methodology in creating and using
medicines

• incorporates the social science of ethnology and the

medical science of pharmacology.

• it explores medicinal plants in indigenous cultures.

• methods of collection, extraction, preparation – allowed

safe usage of the substance and its safety record
 Multidisciplinary Effort in
Ethnopharmacology
- Documentation of indigenous medical
knowledge

- Scientific study of indigenous medicines

- Search for pharmacologically unique principles

from existing indigenous remedies.
 Who are involved?
• Folk Herbalists
• Botanist
• Anthropologist
• Chemist
• Pharmacologist
• Medical Practitioner
 Role of Physicians
- interviewing healers

- interpreting traditional terminologies into

their modern counterparts

- examining patients consuming herbal

remedies

- identifying the disease for which an herbal

remedy is used
- Interpretation of signs and symptoms

- Clinical studies on herbs and their interaction

with modern medicines

- Advising pharmacologists

- Strengthen traditional system of medicine in a

community
 Ethnopharmacological Studies
• Collection of information from local
population concerning the use of regional
medicinal plants, identified the most
important species used and calculate the
Informant consensus factor (ICF). The
collection of data relied on a qualitative
interview (Aburjai et al)
 Uttara Kannada District
- 92 traditional medicine practitioners/healers
were interviewed to collect information on the
use of herbal treatments

- Information was also collected on the method

of preparation, dose and duration along with
the botanical names, family and local names
of the medicinal plants (Hedge et al).
 In the study of Gazzaneo
- Performed door-to-door visits in order to identify the
local people with specialized knowledge on the use of
the medicinal plants.

- By using the snowball method, the names of other

specialists were obtained.

- Calculated the Informant consensus factor (ICF) for

the data analysis.

- The rural dwellers of the community helped in

collection of the information.
• In 2003, the University of Navarra, Spain
organized an interdisciplinary research team to
conduct an ethnobotanical and medical study
in the Navarre Pyrenees.

• The study was intended to attain a more

thorough understanding on the plants used in
Navarre’s traditional medicine, the principles
behind their use, their composition, and
therapeutic use.
• The objectives of the study included compiling
an ethnobotanical and medical catalogue of
the Navarre Pyrenean Region.

• To conduct a quantitative analysis of the

results and compare it with other
ethnobotanical studies of the Pyrenees region

• To do a review on the safety and efficacy of

the drugs with the purpose of assessing the
official validity of the pharmacology of the
Navarre Pyrenees.
 Data Gathering on
Ethnopharmacology
• People who have knowledge on traditional
medicine.

• Individual Interviews

• Open and semi-structured questions

• More than one interview session took place

 Determination of the Interviewees
(Folk Herbalists)
• Local representatives help in identifying folk
herbalists (Gazzaneo).

• The local people guide in locating the folk

herbalists (Akerreta).

• The chosen folk herbalists have no scientific

knowledge on the medicinal plants (Akerreta).

• The interviewees are born or live most of their

lives in the studied region (Akerreta).
 In the Study of Akerreta
Data analysis was done using quantitative
indexes
a. Ethnobotanicity Index
b. Shannon-Wiener's Diversity
c. Equitability
d. The Informant Consensus Factor
• According to WHO, traditional medicine is
still being used by 80% of the world
population as part of their health care,
especially those in developing countries.

• Many African countries including

Tanzania, depend on traditional healers
who provide primary health care by taking
care of people living with emerging
diseases such as HIV/AIDS (Kisangau).
• It was noted that greater than 60% of the
people in Tanzania resort to traditional
medicines in managing various diseases
including HIV/AIDS (Kisangau).

• In this study, the researchers used an

open-ended semi-structured questionnaire
to gather field information. Analysis of the
ethnobotanical data collected was done
using descriptive statistics. They used the
factor of informant consensus (Fic) to
analyze the ethnobotanical importance of
the plants.
 In the Study of Tilahun et al

22.8% - gastrointestinal disorder and parasites

22.1% - external injuries and parasites
17.9% - rabies and internal diseases
8.3% - swelling and cancer
6.2% - evil eye and devil sickness
6.2% - sensorial disease
4.8% - venereal disease and impotence
4.1% - 'mich' and febrile diseases
4.1% - respiratory and throat infection
3.4% - snake bite