Cultural belief and medicinal plants in treating COVID 19 patients of Western Colombia

Abstract

The main background of this study is that corona virus (COVID-19) has caused a global chaos where there was a complete lockdown of the whole planet as well as the collapse of the health system in many developed, developing and under-developed countries. This situation has caused a public health system and till date no decisive treatment is being confirmed so far. The present study from western Colombia focuses on the importance of traditional, cultural and generations history with reference to the use of importance and significance of medicinal plants, especially to find out a strategy to fight the new virus. The study was designed based on three major novel ethno-environmental strategies based on infusion, hot drinks, fresh baths and jelly types were identified. Based on the generated results, the calculated highest used species in the present pandemia indicates Zingiber officinale Roscoe (1.0), Eucalyptus globulus Labiil. (0.86), Citrus x limon (L.) Osbeck (0.80), Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp (0.56) and Matricaria recutita L. (0.52) were the species with the highest use. No significant difference was observed between men and women for the level of knowledge on these traditional medicinal plants. Moreover, many of the scientific information demonstrate their effectiveness in treating the respiratory infections caused due to the corona virus. The results infer the importance of traditional medicine, knowledge which needs more attention and research to counter attack the outbreak especially in medically weak health systems.