Traditional medicine: An agenda for medical geography

Traditional medical systems coexist and complement Western scientific or “modern” medicine throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. At least 2.3 billion people, or 56% of the world's population, continue to rely upon traditional practitioners and healing techniques for treatment of a wide variety of physical and mental illnesses. The persistence of traditional medicine may be attributed largely to its consumer orientation and reputation for being accessible, available, acceptable, and dependable.

Modern medical services reach only a fraction of the population in most Third World countries. They are likely to continue to provide only a small part of the total available health care for the foreseeable future. Recently, the World Health Organization and some individual governments, health professionals, and social scientist have drawn attention to the vast manpower resources of traditional medicine. Collaboration with or integration of traditional practitioners may be a means of expanding primary care in the modern health sector. Yet lack of information is the greatest initial barrier to assessing the feasibility of such proposals in relationship to national health goals and health planning. Although there are a number of sophisticated studies of traditional medical systems, even the most primitive geographic questions about the organization and behavioral patterns of traditional medicine have not been asked.

It is proposed that medical geographers recognize traditional medicine as a major and immediate problem area for basic and applied research. The rationale for geographic study is explained and essential lines of inquiry are suggested.