Traditional Medicine in Asia

Traditional Medicine in Asia
legislation to establish an Australian Office
of Complementary Medicines was announced
in Australian Hansard as being
warranted since 60 per cent of Australians
regularly use some form of CM. Demand
is spiralling at rates that outstrip the
capacity of national health policy to keep
abreast.
In the US, higher educational level,
higher income, and poor health have been
found to be predictors of CM use. 4
Americans and Australians typically pay out
of pocket for CM services. Americans
spend more out of pocket on CM than on
all US hospitalizations. Australians spend
more on CM than on all prescription
drugs. Women have been found to be the
majority of CM users in the US, the UK and
Australia.
Use of traditional medicine in
developing countries
Traditional health care (THC) remains the
source of everyday health care for the
majority of the population of most nonindustrialized
countries. The World Health
Organization has consistently estimated
that between 60–80 per cent of the
population of these countries rely on THC
for their basic health care needs –
sometimes on its own and sometimes in
conjunction with modern medical care.
Studies show that demand is on the
increase in many countries.
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“In many countries, 80 per cent or more
of the population living in rural areas are
cared for by traditional practitioners and
birth attendants.”
(Bannerman, R.H.: Burton, J. & Ch’en,
W-C. In Bannerman, R.H. Traditional
Medicine and Health Care Coverage.
WHO. Geneva. 1993).
The much-quoted figure that of 80 per
cent of the population of many countries
utilize TRM for their everyday health needs
is overdue to be questioned.
A survey of the literature reveals a
diverse range of findings on utilization of
TRM services. The much-cited figure of 80
per cent becomes far less clear and it is
evident that the needs of special
populations – women, the elderly, children,
rural communities, immigrant groups, etc.
– must all be taken into account when
assessing who uses TRM care services, why
and in what relationship with the use of
modern medical services. The value of
considering these findings includes the
following:
� For planning purposes, research into
health service utilization is a necessary
prerequisite for establishing the need
for, the nature of and the size of THC
services;
� Such studies illustrate the diversity of
models used for studying patterns of
utilization of THC services – including
ethnographic research, survey
research and, in the US, telephone
surveys;
� The data highlight the great diversity
in patterns of use according to region,
age, education, gender, income,
availability of medical insurance,
perception of TRM, and distance to
modern medical facilities.
In many countries, life begins with the
support of TRM. An estimated 60–70 per
cent of births in developing countries still
take place with the sole help of traditional
birth attendants. 8
Africa
There have been many general
guesstimates of the extent of use in Africa.
Bannerman (1993) estimated that TRM