Page 135 - A People Called Afrika

Afrika’s Indigenous Knowledge Systems

medicine received most likely has nothing to do with clinical
competence, but has all to do with the fact that it was cre-
ated in Afrika and not by the self-acclaimed super powers.

There are lots of aspects to talk about concerning Afrika’s
Indigenous Knowledge Systems, but for the sake of preci-
sion, we will narrow it down to a few that we feel are most
important for the season and time in which we find ourselves
in the world. The understanding of the workings of these
few that we will speak about will go a long way in helping
Afrika to come out of this pandemic and also in creating a
new pathway for her to truly thrive in a post Covid-19 era.

Afrika’s indigenous medicine and health system
Afrika’s indigenous medicine and health practice is deeply
founded in natural or herbal medicine, a major component
of traditional medicine. Meaning to speak about tradition-
al Afrikan medicine without talking about herbal medicine
and Afrika’s Indigenous Medicine and Health system will
be impossible. For all are parts of the same thing. It is a
known fact that health and wellness was one of the many ge-
niuses of the ancient Afrikan fathers. Every sickness or dis-
ease was met with a corresponding herbal treatment that
not only cured, but also prevented a reoccurrence of same.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines the term
traditional medicine as the sum total of the knowledge, skills
and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences
indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not,
used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention,
diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental
illness. That simply means that traditional medicine with all its

110