Bitter Pills:Medicines & The Third World Poor | Page 164

The same dangers are apparent throughout the Third World as tribal people are
forced to change their lifestyles. Under the pressures of social and economic change,
more people are being forced from their lands or changing their style of cultivation.
A former health minister of North Vietnam has warned of a threat common to many
Third World countries.'' We are exploiting our forests and reafforesting on a very
big scale. Within a few dozen years many so-called wild species will have disappeared
and our pharmacopeia will be greatly impoverished." "5I
The need to make a proper evaluation of traditional medicine is seen by many
in the Third World as one element in a much wider cultural and social process
of achieving self-reliance. Dr. Galvez-Tan in the Philippines explains: "Medicinal
plants can be one of the alternatives for our people to use. But many people will
still ask the question - 'Do medicinal plants really have a basis enough to warrant
their widespread use again?' The answer is yes. It is from the ancient herbs that
our modern pharmacopeias have developed... The scepticism regarding herbal
medicines can be traced to our cultural 'miseducation'. We have always been taught
that the practices of our herbolarios and Mote are quackery and unscientific. We
were led to believe that anything that comes from the 'West is best'. We have
failed to recognise the beauty of our own indigenous science and culture." " 6 |

GRASS ROOTS INTEGRATION
To serve the needs of the poor, there has to be a concerted attempt to capitalise
on the best of both traditional and modern medicine by integrating the two systems
at the primary health care level.
This integration is already taking place. For example in India allopathic doctors
and health workers have incorporated Ayurvedic principles on diet, meditation
and exercise into their practice. Moreover, research in one Indian community
reveals the extent to which indigenous healers look to modern drugs, with these
prescribed to 80% of their patients.(37) Integration between these two systems has
of course been consciously and successfully achieved in China.
But in contrast to China, the problem remains that a model integration of the
best of traditional and modern primary health care systems may still do little to
improve health if merely grafted onto political and economic structures that
perpetuate poverty. There is even some evidence that indigenous healers working
in joint clinics with modern health workers in India may effectively be catering
mainly for a more educated minority, and treating conditions that are not primary
health care priorities. ° 8)
Nonetheless, three clear advantages can be seen in attempting to create grass roots
integration. The first is stressed by WHO: "A sudden change from traditional
to modern medicine causes negative attitudes in the population towards the
organised health services. This leads to under-utilization of these services and to
competition between them and traditional medicine." Traditional medicine has
the advantage of "high consumer approval", so if traditional practitioners are
seen working alongside modern health workers, patients will be encouraged to
make use of the new primary health care facilities.(39)
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