Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Traditional Medicine

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics

Abstract

In this entry, traditional medicine is understood and treated as systems of medicine or healthcare distinct from the global paradigm of scientific medicine, as they have evolved and exist in the various human cultures of the world. Such systems are closely connected with the adaptation of various human groups to their physical environment or ecological niche and the social organization that makes their day-to-day living possible and meaningful. These healthcare or medical systems might be given various appellations from various points of view or perspectives, but they are basically aimed at and result from the basic need of human beings to maintain health, guess and diagnose the causes of illness, treat illness, and prevent its occurrence. Scientific medicine, because of its alliance with technology and commerce, its global push, and globalizing effects, stands as a gigantic rival to all such traditional systems with which, willy-nilly, they have to deal.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdullahi, A. A. (2011). Trends and challenges of traditional medicine in Africa. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative Medicines, 8(5 Suppl), 115–123. doi:10.4314/ajtcam.v8i5S.5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beauchamp, T., & Childress, J. (2001). Principles biomedical ethics (5th ed.). Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borins, M. (1987). Traditional medicine in India. Canadian Family Physician, 33, 1061–1065.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, D., & Wasunna, A. A. (2006). Medicine and the market: Equity v. choice. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatora, R. (2003). An overview of the traditional medicine situation in the African region. African Health Monitor, 4(1), 4–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, J. (1950). Heart of darkness and the secret sharer. New York: New American Library Edition.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrington, B. (1944). Greek science: Its meaning for us. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hye-Lim, P., Lee, H.-S., Shin, B.-C., Liu, J.-P., Shang, Q., Yamashita, H., & Lim, B. (2012). Traditional medicine in China, Korea, and Japan: A brief introduction and comparison. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 429103. doi:10.1155/2012/429103. 9 pages.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingsley, M. (1964). West African studies. London/Edinburgh: Frank Cass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tangwa, G. B. (2002). Genetic technology and moral values: An African opinion. Polylog (online) http://them.polylog.org/6/ftg-en.htm. Accessed 04 Jan 2015.

  • Tangwa, G. B. (2011). Ethics in African education (Chapter 7). In A. Bame Nsamenang & T. M. S. Tchombe (Eds.), Handbook of African educational theories and practices: A generative teacher education curriculum (pp. 92–106). Bamenda: Presses Universitaires d’Afrique.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tangwa, G. B. (2014). Ethics, human rights and sexual/reproductive health in Africa: Exploratory sociocultural considerations (chapter 7). In W. Teays, J.-S. Gordon, & A. D. Renteln (Eds.), Global bioethics and human rights: Contemporary issues (pp. 213–232). Lanham/Boulder/New York/Toronto/Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weil, A. (1998). Health and healing. Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO. (2002). Traditional medicine strategy 2002–2005. Geneva: WHO.

    Google Scholar 

Further Readings

  • Muzur, A., & Sass, H.-M. (2012). Fritz Jahr and the foundations of global bioethics: The future of integrative bioethics. Zurich/Berlin: LIT Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyika, A. (2007). Ethical and regulatory issues surrounding African traditional medicine in the context of HIV/AIDS. Developing World Bioethics, 7(1), 25–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tangwa, G. B. (2007). How not to compare western scientific medicine with African traditional medicine. Developing World Bioethics, 7(1), 41–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO, Paris. (2013). International bioethics committee: Report of the IBC on traditional medicine systems and their ethical implications. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002174/217457e.pdf. Accessed 17 February, 2015.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Cameroon Bioethics Initiative (CAMBIN)/University of Yaounde 1, 13597, Yaounde, Cameroon

    Godfrey B. Tangwa

Authors
  1. Godfrey B. Tangwa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Godfrey B. Tangwa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Duquesne University Center for Healthcare Ethics, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Henk ten Have

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this entry

Cite this entry

Tangwa, G.B. (2015). Traditional Medicine. In: ten Have, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_421-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_421-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-05544-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation