Traditional Medicine in Tanga Today : The Ancient and Modern Worlds Meet

Abstract

This report deals with primary health care providers in Africa. Today healers in Africa still play crucial roles they carry the burden of care for treating people with HIV/AIDS. Plants have been used as primary sources of medicine for thousands of years. This report indicates that plants have medicinal qualities due to the substances they produce to protect themselves from insect pests and pathogens. Many medicines are extracted from the roots, root bark, and bark of plants that provide a line of defense against an invader. In Tanzania, many more people receive health care from healers than from conventional health workers. In rural areas, medicine is much less available that in towns. Healers in Tanga are mostly herbalists, diviners, mediums, surgeons, midwives, and traditional psychiatrists. Healers are accessible, affordable, and usually have credibility. Tanga has received international recognition for its innovative work with traditional healers, and has received support from Oxfam, the World Bank, and USAID.