Abstract
Medicinal Plants Used for Treating Reproductive Health Care Problems in Cameroon, Central Africa. Approximately 80% of the African population uses traditional plants to deal with health problems, basically because of their easy accessibility and affordability. This study was carried out to document indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants used by traditional healers and elders in the treatment of reproductive health care in the Bamboutos Division of the West Region in Cameroon, Central Africa. The research methods used included semi–structured interviews and participative field observations. For the interviews, 70 knowledgeable respondents (40 traditional healers and 30 elders) were selected via purposive sampling. Voucher specimens were collected with the help of respondents, processed into the Cameroon National Herbarium in Yaoundé following standard methods, identified with the help of pertinent floras and taxonomic experts, and submitted to Department of Botany at the University of Dschang. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze and summarize ethnobotanical information obtained. Informant consensus factors (ICF) were used to elucidate the agreement among informants on the species to be used in the treatment within a category of illness. The results showed that a total of 70 plant species from 37 families (mostly of the Asteraceae [8 species], Euphorbiaceae [7], and Acanthaceae and Bignoniaceae [4 each]) are used in the treatment of 27 reproductive ailments, with the highest number of species (37) being used against venereal diseases, followed by female (29) and male infertility (21), respectively. Leaves (47.3%) were the most commonly harvested plant parts and the most common growth forms harvested were the herbs (45.7%), followed by shrubs (30%). Sixty percent of plant material was obtained from the wild ecosystems. Herbal remedies were mostly prepared in the form of decoction (66.2%) and were taken mainly orally. Informant consensus about usages of medicinal plants ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 with an average value of 0.91. It can be concluded that medicinal plants have played and will continue to play major roles in the management of reproductive healthcare in the study area.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12231-016-9344-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Cameroon is a lower middle–income country with a population of about 19.4 million, representing over 200 ethnic groups
The study conducted in Bamboutos Division recorded 70 medicinal plant species (Table 2, ESM) used in treating reproductive health ailments
Respondents reported ethnomedicinal data on 70 species of plants distributed across 37 families and 64 genera as having properties against 27 ailments related to the reproductive health system
Summary
Cameroon is a lower middle–income country with a population of about 19.4 million, representing over 200 ethnic groups. 40% of its population lives below the one–dollar– per–day international poverty line. Life expectancy is 51 years (Cameroon Operational Plan Report or C.O.P.R. 2012). Cameroon’s epidemiological profile is dominated by communicable diseases such as malaria and HIV (prevalence of 5.5%), and an increasing prevalence of non–communicable afflictions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (C.O.P.R. 2012). The government of Cameroon currently allocates less than 6% of its national budget to health; this is far below the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 15% in order to meet the health sector’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Major infectious diseases are foodborne and waterborne; in addition, there are vector–borne diseases such as malaria. Access to modern medicine and doctors is low (1 per 13,000 inhabitants) (C.O.P.R. 2012)
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