Traditional Medicine in West Africa: Research Programs and Practice

A region, not one tradition

West Africa includes many countries and peoples, each with its own healers, languages and plant knowledge. This page covers what the sources I could read say about Nigeria, Ghana and Mali, and it makes no claim for the rest of the region. It is information only.

What the research map looks like

A 2024 scoping review of traditional medicine in West Africa screened 3,484 records and included 46 articles published between 1979 and 2023. [1] Nigeria produced 54.3% of the publications and Ghana 19.6%, so most of what is known comes from those two countries. [1] The studies were clinical trials, ethnobotanical surveys (surveys that record which plants people use and for what), and lab studies. The review's authors call for more collaboration between traditional healers and modern health professionals and for culturally sensitive care. [1] A scoping review maps research; it does not judge whether treatments work.

Nigeria and Yoruba herbal practice

Nigeria has many peoples and healing traditions. Because "Yoruba medicine" is a common search, here is what the sources say about the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria, and only that.

• Survey of practitioners: an ethnobotanical survey of 100 mostly Yoruba respondents in five Lagos State districts found that those treating diabetes used mainly herbs (96%), with multi-component liquid recipes, and that they rarely referred patients on. [2] The plants named are what people reported using. The survey did not test whether they lower blood sugar, so this is traditional use only.
• Faith and healing: a scholarly paper describes how divination among Yoruba Muslims moved from palm kernels and cowries toward rosary and sand, with older medical traditions kept within Islamic practice. [3] Healing here is tied to religion and community, and this site does not describe those practices.
• Referral: in a questionnaire study of 120 traditional healers and birth attendants in three Lagos areas, 70% had never treated tuberculosis (TB), 57.3% had ever referred a patient with a chronic cough to a health facility, and 90% were willing to collaborate with the national TB program. [4]

Regulation: under Nigeria's 2021 regulations, no herbal medicine or related product may be made, imported, sold, advertised or used in Nigeria unless registered with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). [5] The sources read for this page did not describe a national register of practitioners.

Ghana

• The law: Ghana's Traditional Medicine Practice Council was created under Act 575 of 2000 to register traditional practitioners and regulate how they work. [6]
• Numbers: the Council's public relations officer told the Ghana News Agency that 27,103 practitioners were registered as of December 2023, including those who sell raw medicine, facilities, manufacturers and spiritual herbalists. [6] This is the Council's own statement, reported by a news agency.
• Challenges: a 2023 analysis by a researcher at Ghana's Centre for Plant Medicine Research lists registration of products and practitioners, a lack of clinical trials, quality-control problems and a shortage of research supporting traditional claims. [7] In other words, registration exists, but research and enforcement are still catching up.

Mali: an example of research with healers

Mali offers a well-documented case of research that began with community knowledge. In a trial in a remote Malian village, 301 people with presumed uncomplicated malaria (median age 5 years) were randomly given an Argemone mexicana decoction or a standard artemisinin-based combination drug. [8] Over 28 days, second-line treatment was not needed for 89% on the decoction and 95% on the drug; both were well tolerated. [8] The authors say it is now government-approved in Mali and could be tested as a complement in high-transmission areas. [8]

Limits: this was one trial in one setting, and the decoction did slightly worse than the drug. It is promising but limited evidence and does not show that it works elsewhere, for severe malaria, or as a replacement for a prompt malaria test and medical care. A separate paper describes how the knowledge came independently from several families and healers, was treated as belonging to the people of Mali, and how the healer who collaborated asked that the medicine be named after him instead of seeking money. [9] See sustainability and commercialization of traditional medicine for why benefit sharing matters.

Finding a practitioner or product safely

This site does not list healers, clinics or sellers. Ask whether a practitioner is registered with the national body, whether a product has a regulator's registration number, and what they do when a problem needs a clinic. See choosing a qualified practitioner.

Related pages

African traditional medicine overview, Sangomas and traditional health practitioners in South Africa, and traditional healers and modern health systems.