Research

Ethnomedical survey of Berta ethnic group Assosa Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz regional state, mid-west Ethiopia

Teferi Flatie¹ , Teferi Gedif¹ , Kaleab Asres² and Tsige Gebre-Mariam¹

¹  Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Addis Ababa University, PO Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

²  Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Addis Ababa University, PO Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2009, 5:14doi:10.1186/1746-4269-5-14

Published:	1 May 2009

Abstract

Traditional medicine (TM) has been a major source of health care in Ethiopia as in most developing countries around the world. This survey examined the extent and factors determining the use of TM and medicinal plants by Berta community. One thousand and two hundred households (HHs) and fourteen traditional healers were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires and six focused group discussions (FGDs) were conducted. The prevalence of the use of TM in the two weeks recall period was 4.6%. The HH economic status was found to have a significant effect while the educational level and age of the patients have no effect either on the care seeking behavior or choice of care. Taking no action about a given health problem and using TM are common in females with low-income HHs. Forty plant species belonging to 23 families were reported, each with local names, methods of preparation and parts used. This study indicates that although the proportion of the population that uses TM may be small it is still an important component of the public health care in the study community as complementary and alternative medicine.