Medics Without Borders

Traditional Medicine in Ghana

One early morning in November 2008, the phone rang as usual. The call came from Ghana. The person on the end of the line was weeping and choking with tears. Reason, one of my cousins had fallen into coma and had been admitted at the second largest hospital in Ghana. His feet were swollen, his heart and other vital organs were failing. Every sign of hope of getting him back to life and normalcy was dwindling by seconds. Other relatives in the United States sprang into action and did everything we could to save the man's life. More money was poured into searching for medical experts to diagnose what was wrong with him and to cure him of his ailments. After extensive examinations, laboratory tests and x-rays, he was diagnosed with many systemic diseases. His liver and kidneys were inflamed and were shutting down and failing fast beyond hope. The attending physicians told the family to take him home for him to die. According to the medical doctors, he had only three weeks to live . Either by accident or by divine intervention, a traditional herbalist heard about the health conditions of the patient. He advised the family members not to give up on the dying man but he should be allowed to try his herbal medicine on the patient. Pessimism set in as medical experts had declared that the patient would die in a few days. The family allowed the herbalist to try his trade on the patient. Today, my cousin is alive, doing well and speaking without difficulties. He can walk and do things on his own. Herbal medicine has triumphed over medical sciences (this is a true story in Adomako Adjapong's extended family in Ghana).

There are several stories in Ghana testifying to many people being cured by traditional herbal medicine when mainstream medical sciences had declared them virtually dead. In Ghana, many people seek help from traditional herbalists before seeking medical attention in clinics and major hospitals. Other people also learn the herbal medicinal trade from their elderly family members who pass down the trade from one generation to another. My grandparents are custodians of such trades and practices. Due to knowledge in herbal medicinal practices, self-medication has become a health crisis in Ghana. Herbal medicinal products/medicines contain active ingredients exclusively from plant material and/or vegetable drug preparations for therapeutic purposes. The active ingredients can be harmful to the user if he/she does not know how much dosage is to be administered at a time or over a period of time.

Medics Without Borders (MWB) understands the need for others to seek help from herbalists when there is no nearby medical facility for medical care. However, there are some herbalists who need help in understanding emergency medical conditions which need modern medical interventions and technologies to provide accurate medical diagnoses in order to save people's lives. These herbalists also need to know basic human anatomy, prevention of infectious diseases, maintaining sterile environments when working on patients and how to provide counseling for families who lose family members who choose to seek the herbalists' help in times of need. MWB provides health education to many traditional herbalists to hone their skills in identifying life threatening conditions which need immediate medical attention from professional healthcare providers.