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Health Practices
Long before the
introduction of modern medicines and Western
curative methods herbal medicines had been
widely used in t Philippines.
The curative effects of the herbs were tested by
traditional healers on their patient on
try-and-error basis. The knowledge an skills on
the curative application of any give herbal
medicine has been handed down fro generation to
generation.
Apart from prescribing herbs medicines, the
traditional healers were known to give
psychological comfort an moral support to their
patients. In the of days, they were well
respected and enjoy high social status.
Through generations of selective process, the
herbs that were known to be effective were kept
alive. The ineffective one were soon forgotten.
In the days when drugs from the West just
started to be used in the Philippines, the were
not only too expensive but also too scarce. The
rural folks and the poor continued to rely on
herbal medicines available in abundance,
locally.
Western-style medical care has reached a very
limited number of people, mostly in urban areas.
As modern drugs were increasingly available at
much cheaper prices, the popularity of herbal
medicines waned considerably and faces
extinction.
Traditional healers and the use of herbal
medicines have begun to vanish along with the
knowledge about their curative applications.
Herbal medicines have become legacy of the past
and the number of users is fast dwindling.
Hospitals that. have sprouted up in the
provinces and later in the districts have in no
small part contributed to the dying art of
traditional healing. Doctors trained in Western
medicine have arrived to introduce new concepts
almost at every corner of the country. Of
course, modern medicine is a wonder compared to
the use of herbs. After all, there is still no
herbal medicine comparable to antibiotics,
vaccines, anti-inflammation, and symptomatic
drugs.
Despite the Public Health Ministry's vigorous
campaigns to make available medical services in
rural areas, the services are still far' from
adequate today. It is doubtful if the modern
medical services will ever be adequate given our
limited resources and trained manpower.
The policy of expanding medical services has
been doggedly followed for several years to the
point that authorities started questioning the
necessity of some district hospitals considered
too close to larger provincial facilities.
Patients living near town centers would
naturally rather be treated at a provincial,
hospital with more sophisticated equipment
and supposedly more qualified doctors than at
hospitals in their own districts.
Despite the expansion policy, the Public Health
Ministry acknowledged that nearly 600 hospitals
are providing care for not more than 30 per cent
of the entire population. The poorest lot who
live far from district towns and are in need of
health care the most are unable to come to the
hospitals.
Besides, hospitals are normally too crowded to
provide good. services because everyone is
taught to see a doctor no matter how
insignificant the illness. The ministry
estimated that about 90 per cent of patients do
,not need to come to hospitals at all.
Villagers who are unable to obtain services
from government hospitals resort to drugs
without prescriptions or proper advice. The
health problems have been compounded as a result
of the misguided consumption of modern drugs.
Many suffered, and died from peptic ulcer
perforation (punctured stomach) because of
unperceived consumption of analgesics.
To fulfill the World Health Organization's
motto "Health For All By The Year 2000," the
Public Health Ministry has given more attention
to primary health care campaigns. Health
communicators and health volunteers were
recruited from villages to teach basic health
care
One of the policies declared by the Public
Health Ministry is the revitalization of. the
use of herbal medicines through scientifically
proven methods. The Ministry has embarked on a
project to promote single herbal plants for
their curative and preventive effects.
"This approach is chosen because the. cost of
modern drugs could progressively become too high
for the rural population to bear within the
foreseeable future," the Ministry said in the
agreement with the donors.
According to Ministry statistics, Philippines
now imports about US$350 million worth of drugs.
Another reason cited by the Ministry for the
herb revitalization programmed is that there is
a growing concern that the Government
Pharmaceutical Organization, the main supplier
of standard drugs to the primary ,health care
project, will not be able to produce required
level of household drugs to meet demand in the
wake of the large scale health services
coverage.
By encouraging villagers to grow and use herbs
for treatment, the Ministry would also promote
the self help concept that would be, in line
with the primary health care programmed.
Apart from collecting and classifying
information on medicinal plants and
traditional medicines, the Ministry will
disseminate in formation on cultivation
techniques and undertake scientific researches
on herbs. The Ministry hopes to prove and
prepare formula mixtures of traditional
medicines for distribution through district
hospitals and health centers in 25 selected
provinces.
FOR MORE INFORMATION,
CLICK ON EACH LINK BELOW:
HERBAL
MEDICINE AND ITS MEDICATION
Herbal Medicine
Cough, Burns, Chicken Pox and Asthma
Acute and Chronic Cystitis, Constipation
Snake Bites, Abscesses Boils, Sprained Ankle or Wrist, Diabetes
HERBAL CURES
AND ITS MEDICATION
Herbal Cures
Herbal Cures and their Scientific name
Swollen Gums and Mouth Inflammation
PREVENTION
AND CURES OF COMMON DISEASES
Common Cold, Measles and Pneumonia
Influenza, Gum Diseases and Typhoid Fever
Cholera, Filariasis and Poliomyelitis
Gonorrhea and Syphilis
Leprosy and Diphtheria
Hi-Fever, Tuberculoses, and Tooth Decay
Carrying Out of Good Cleanliness
Herbal Plants
Herbal Plants and Cures
Herbal Remedies
Medicinal Plants
Yerba Buena
Who USES
Herbal Medicine
Meaning Some Words of Sickness
GLOSSARY
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