Integrating Indigenous and Western Health Practices as Synergy for African Development in the Globalization Era: The Nigerian Example

Abstract

The health policy of colonial rule precipitated structural and institutional changes in the healthcare system of the colonized Africans, as Western medicine was imposed across Africa as a better system of health management. This development fundamentally altered the professional and practical acceptability of indigenous medicine even beyond the colonial era. The much-acclaimed theoretical incompatibility of western and indigenous medical systems is one of the major causes of the strain in the levels of acceptance between indigenous medicine and western medicine in post-colonial Africa. In the case of Nigeria, a majority of the populace, especially in the rural areas, still consult the indigenous medical care providers. This consultation is arguably as a result of some factors, including the people’s thin financial resources,the mythical belief in the therapeutic efficacy of indigenous medicine, and closeness of the indigenous healthcare centres to the patients, among others. Given this, it becomes imperative to explore the historical development and value of Adepoju Adewale Toyin and Onagun Rasheed: Integrating Indigenous and… 415 indigenous healthcare practices in Nigeria and determine the possibility of its integration with western medicine. Towards accomplishing this, we explore historical-analytic method, using primary and secondary sources to examine the current state of indigenous traditional health practice in Nigeria, identify the factors that drive (mis)communication between patient and practitioner, and suggest solutions that can be implemented to address existing challenges. In addition, with illustrations drawn from successful examples of integration of indigenous and modern health practices in developing countries, the paper argues in the context of globalization that an advantageous synergy between indigenous and western health practices is feasible as a development strategy for Africa.