Medicinal Plants Used in Traditional Medicine by Ethiopians: A Review Article

Traditional medicine refers to the sum total of knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve, or treat physical and mental illnesses. Traditional medical practices can include plant, animal, and mineral-based medicines, massage, spiritual therapies, and a variety of other techniques unique to different regions and cultures. In Ethiopia where modern public health services are limited or not accessible, 80% of the population relies on traditional medicine for primary health care. Traditional medical services are also sought in urban areas of Ethiopia, where allopathic services are more readily available, and contribute considerably to the public health care system. Herbal therapy appears to play a prominent role in Ethiopian traditional medicine. Ethiopia is considered the home of some of the most diverse plant species in Africa that serve as sources of many traditional medicinal plants. Most of these plants are obtained from local sources in the wild by knowledgeable traditional practitioners. It has been reported that approximately 800 species of the medicinal plants grown in Ethiopia are used for treating about 300 medical conditions. In the traditional treatment of mental illnesses in Ethiopia, various plants parts either in combination, whole plant part or alone are employed. In the combination situation, the practioners may believe that the active therapeutic ingredient is found at two or more parts of the plant. In conclusion traditional healers still play a great role in the primary health care systems in Ethiopia. The sparsely distributed forests were important resources of healers and repositories of medicinal plants gene pools

Keywords: Medicinal plants, Traditional Medicine, Ethiopians.