Department of Biology, University of Dodoma, P.O. Box 259, Dodoma, Tanzania.
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Catholic University of Mbeya (CUoM), P.O. Box 2622, Mbeya, Tanzania.
Soc Sci Med. 2024 Oct;358:117251. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117251. Epub 2024 Aug 18.
The use of medicinal plants in traditional healing practices is essential to Tanzanian and African health care. This paper examined the African traditional healing tendencies, particularly the Sukuma tribe of Tanzania, from 1922 to the 1960s. Several types of research challenged traditional healing tendencies' role in the health sector. They claimed that traditional healing has no scientific evidence or methodology and is inefficient. This paper comprises three objectives: the evolution of traditional healing practices among the Sukuma; the traditional healers' conceptualization and adaptation of social, economic, and ecological changes; and the challenges faced by the traditional healers. The study was conducted in Mwamapalala and Mwalushu Wards where Mwamunhu and Mwamigagani represented as sampled villages in Bariadi District. It used both qualitative and quantitative approaches that involved an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. Archival materials were also used. The findings reveal that the traditional healers understood the nature of traditional healing in the pre-colonial period. Before colonial domination, all people in the region depended on the traditional medicines obtained from flora and fauna. Their ancestors were diviners, and few were herbalists. The paper concludes that the current healing practice in Tanzania results from the political transition from the colonial period to the independence era. Most people conceptualize that the government had neither effectively accepted the field of traditional medicine nor given the healers any support to sustain their activities. More often, traditional healers have been ignored by the government, and it has been claimed that traditional healing practices instigated violence and, therefore, threaten society.
药用植物在传统疗法中的应用对坦桑尼亚和非洲的医疗保健至关重要。本文考察了非洲传统疗法的趋势，特别是坦桑尼亚的苏库马部落，从 1922 年到 20 世纪 60 年代。有几种类型的研究对传统疗法在卫生部门的作用提出了挑战。他们声称传统疗法没有科学证据或方法，而且效率低下。本文包含三个目标：苏库马人传统疗法的演变；传统治疗师对社会、经济和生态变化的概念化和适应；以及传统治疗师面临的挑战。该研究在 Mwamapalala 和 Mwalushu 病房进行，Mwamunhu 和 Mwamigagani 代表 Bariadi 区的抽样村庄。它采用了定性和定量方法，对其主题采用了解释性、自然主义的方法。还使用了档案材料。研究结果表明，传统治疗师在殖民前时期就了解传统治疗的性质。在殖民统治之前，该地区的所有人都依赖于从动植物中获得的传统药物。他们的祖先都是占卜者，只有少数是草药师。本文的结论是，坦桑尼亚目前的治疗实践是从殖民时期到独立时代的政治过渡的结果。大多数人认为，政府既没有有效地接受传统医学领域，也没有给治疗师任何支持来维持他们的活动。传统治疗师经常被政府忽视，有人声称传统的治疗实践煽动了暴力，因此威胁到社会。
