South African Traditional Medicinal Plants from KwaZulu-Natal is based on the beautiful notebooks that the Norwegian medical doctor Henrik Greve Blessing wrote when he was visiting the KwaZulu-Natal district in the years 1901 -1904. Blessing was the medical doctor on board the ship "Fram" that went towards the North Pole with Fridtjof Nansen during the years 1893-96. In these notebooks he described 98 plants, both botanically and with their local use for illnesses, pains and as agents against poisoning. For most plants the only names given were the Zulunames. The last part of this book is a facsimile of Blessing's original notebooks. Scientists from Norway and South Africa have identified the plants, taken photographs of them, and described the use of the plants traditionally as well as modern knowledge about effects. The book is both of cultural, medicinal and pharmaceutical historic interest, and represents part of the historic relations between South Africa and Norway --

This publication provides a comprehensive and scientifically accurate guide to the best-known and most important medicinal plants, including those of special commercial or historical interest. It includes descriptions of more than 300 medicinal plants and their close relatives, with each entry summarising botanical background, geographical origin, therapeutic category, historical and modern uses, active ingredients, and pharmacological effects. Over 500 full-color photographs are included to assist in the identification of the plants.

"The work should be of use to botanists, chemists, ethnopharmacologists, medical workers and anthropologists. Recent research indicates that Zulu traditional medicine is a working, adaptive and self-monitoring system, eminently worthy of further research. With the flora from which it comes, it is a heritage to be highly valued and conserved."--BOOK JACKET.

A guide of the most commonly used and best known SA medicinal plants including their botany, traditional uses and active ingredients

In Biomedical Hegemony and Democracy in South Africa Ngambouk Vitalis Pemunta and Tabi Chama-James Tabenyang unpack the contentious South African government’s post-apartheid policy framework of the ‘‘return to tradition policy’’. The conjuncture between deep sociopolitical crises, witchcraft, the ravaging HIV/AIDS pandemic and the government’s initial reluctance to adopt antiretroviral therapy turned away desperate HIV/AIDS patients to traditional healers. Drawing on historical sources, policy documents and ethnographic interviews, Pemunta and Tabenyang convincingly demonstrate that despite biomedical hegemony, patients and members of their therapy-seeking group often shuttle between modern and traditional medicine, thereby making both systems of healthcare complementary rather than alternatives. They draw the attention of policy-makers to the need to be aware of ‘‘subaltern health narratives’’ in designing health policy.

Modern medicine has reached a point where the patient is not treated as a biopsychosocial-spiritual being but rather is seen as a virtual identity consisting of laboratory findings and images. More focus is placed on relieving the symptoms instead of curing the disease. Mostly, patients are turned into lifetime medication-dependent individuals. New medicines are needed to overcome the side effects, complications, resistance, and intolerance caused by pharmacological and interventional therapies. In hopes of drug-free and painless alternative treatments with fewer complications, there has been a trend to revisit traditional methods that have been dismissed by modern medicine. Traditional medicine has to be reevaluated with modern scientific methods to complement and integrate with evidence-based modern medicine.

Healing Traditions offers a historical perspective to the interactions between South Africa's traditional healers and biomedical practitioners. It provides an understanding that is vital for the development of medical strategies to effectively deal with South Africa's healthcare challenges.