Traditional Medicine Marches Back to the Mainstream

About 80 percent of the world depends on traditional and complementary/alternative medicine for treating and curing illness. According to the World Health Organization, traditional medicine (TM) refers to ways of protecting and restoring health that existed before the arrival of modern medicine. It incorporates plant, animal, or mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques, and exercises to treat, diagnose, or prevent illness.

In Africa, about 80 percent of the population uses traditional remedies, while in China, TM accounts for 30-50 percent of health care. In Canada, two out of three people have used alternative or traditional therapies at least once. In the United States, 42 percent of the population reports using some form of traditional medicine.

Source:

Alternative Medicine Gains Popularity, Vital Signs 2003, pp. 104-105.

Worldwatch Links:

Vital Signs Fact of the Week Archive
Vital Signs 2003 press release
Take action: Vital Signs 2003, What You Can Do
More research from Worldwatch

Additional Resources:

The Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN): http://www.sehn.org/ecomedicine.html