Traditional Healers vs Western Medicine

Matthew Anstee discusses his experiences of traditional medicine in Kenya.

''It’s easy for people who have been brought up with hospitals, doctors surgeries and pharmacists to critise the use of traditional healers in Africa and the methods adopted to cure sickness and disease.'' ''I remember becountry and western medicine is expensive, in short supply and confusing. Traditional healers offer medicine that is cheaper and more readily avaliableing very surprised when they opted for a traditional healer when they knew that Western medicines were avaliable.'' ''The rights and wrongs of traditional medicine is not for me to decide. However, even if the people in Kenya did want to choose western medication, it would be difficult for them.''

It’s easy for people who have been brought up with hospitals, doctors surgeries and pharmacists to critise the use of traditional healers in Africa and the methods adopted to cure sickness and disease. We generally see traditional healers as strange people who use hocus-pocus measures to pretend to heal the sick, but they and their patients truly believe in their treatments. It is difficult to comment on this without knowing more about the healers and their medications but I would like to discuss my experiences of traditional medicine.

At the end of 2005 I went to Kenya and worked as a volunteer for a local Christian charity. The western volunteers lived in a small compound that was home to three houses. We shared the accommodation with Mary, the head of the charity, her 5 year-old neice and her 102 year-old mother-in-law.

One day Mary had a headache, brought on by a mild strain of malaria she had contracted, and her mother-in-law was suffering from old age, including aching bones and forgetfulness. I remember being very surprised when they opted for a traditional healer when they knew that Western medicines were avaliable. Everytime they fell ill they would call upon the same traditional healer, a man they knew well and trusted with their lives.

The healer would make up potions to be drunk over a period of time. He’d put different ingredients in depending on the patient’s condition, and like Western doctors he’d adjust the dose depending on how severe the conditon was.

The two ladies didn’t know what they were drinking but they drunk it without question. The only person who knew exactly what was in the concotion was the healer himself, and he wasn’t going to tell anyone his trade secret. Mary informed me later that her headache had died down and her mother-in-law was feeling much better.

Just before the healer left that day he saw that one of the volunteers had a cut on his arm and he offered to cure it. The volunteer asked what he would do, and we were all surprised by his response. The healer explained that he would cut underneath the wound, open up the skin, and place what looked like a stone into it before sealing it back up. The healer insisted that this action would cure any infection. The volunteer politely declined, opting instead for antiseptic cream and a plaster.

Now I do not pretend to know much about medicine and the art of healing people, but it seemed to me that this solution would cause more harm than good - especially as the healer only used one knife for all his patients and this particular region is rife with HIV/AIDS.

On the other hand: a month after I left Kenya, Mary’s mother-in-law sadly passed away. She was a woman that had used traditional healers all her life but had made it to 102 years-old in a country where the life expectancy is now just 50 years.

The rights and wrongs of traditional medicine is not for me to decide. However, even if the people in Kenya did want to choose western medication, it would be difficult for them. It is a very poor country and western medicine is expensive, in short supply and confusing. Traditional healers offer medicine that is cheaper and more readily avaliable. The healers are steeped in history and tradition, which gives them legitamacy for their actions and a higher standing in the community.

It’s a tricky one, but what do you think?