049: Practicing Traditional Medicine as Part of The African Culture -W/ Paschal Kum Awah

Feb 16, 2022

Traditional medical practices have long existed way before the emergence of “modern medicine” in Africa and are still being practiced. Most of us know at least one person who still goes to a “medicine house” aka traditional doctor. Also, most of us may have always had these questions and doubts about the relevance or even the significance of traditional medicine practices in our continent. We have Professor Awah Paschal who is a medical anthropologist and gives us a holistic overview of traditional medical practices in Africa. We had one of those non-ending debates and shared our outlook on this topic and I hope that you can learn a thing or two from our conversation. 

 

Get to meet our guest:

Paschal Kum Awah is Chair of Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences, University of Yaounde I. He has previously held the position of Senior Research Advisor for Ipas in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

A resourceful and dedicated professor with an outstanding academic background holding a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and a Postdoctoral Certificate in Bioethics from the Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) Olympia and the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, USA.

He has an excellent publication record with 78 peer-reviewed papers, three book chapters, and significant teaching experiences in the fields of Anthropology, Epidemiology, Public Health, and Bioethics. He possesses worldwide excellent interpersonal and liaison skills with the ability to build and maintain positive working relationships.

Enjoys worldwide collaborating in a productive and successful team and thrives in challenging environments. In 2020, he was nominated as a member of the African Union Taskforce for the African Scientific Research and Innovation Council and serves as a board member in the WCG-WIRB in the United States of America and in the Central Hospital Yaounde Institutional Review Board, Cameroon. Besides academic engagements, he is the President and CEO of the Centre for Population Studies and Health Promotion, Yaounde-Cameroon, and provides consultancy to some African, European, and US-based organizations.

 

CONTACT:

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Email: [e-mail]

 

Things You Will Learn in This Episode: 

[00:01 – 03:00] Introduction

• Introducing our guests - Prof. Paschal Kum Awah

[03:00 – 25:00] Understanding Traditional Medicine

• What is African Traditional Medicine
• Questioning the science behind the practice
• Understanding African herbal medicine 
• Anyoh shares her experience with traditional healers

[25:00 – 40:00] The Use Cases of Traditional Medicine

• The impact of traditional medicine in Africa during the pandemic
• Advancement and research into traditional medicine
• How to identity quack traditional healers

[45:00 – 50:10] Final Discussions

• Final words from Paschal Kum Awah
• Final words from Anyoh

Tweetable Quotes:

Every culture has its own form of medicine. Within that culture, we call it medicine grounded in their tradition. For example, medicine in the western context will be the traditional medicine of the people of the west. Medicine practiced in the Chinese tradition will be Chinese medicine. Medicine practiced in the African context will be African traditional medicine. - Prof Awah Paschal

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