Background
Interactions between humans and diseases for a long time have encourage people to construct concepts related to the disease and create strategies to prevent and treat the disease. The aim of this study is to document philosophy and practice of ethnomedicine of Tetun ethnic people in the prevention and treatment of malaria.
Methods
This research was a field study using ethnobotany and anthropology approaches. It was conducted among the Tetun people who settled in the Belu and Malaka districts from April to December 2017. A total of 94 informants consists of public healer, home healer and traditional medicine users were involved in semi-structured interviews and discussions.
Results
Tetun ethnic has local knowledge that malaria is caused by naturalistic factors that affect the hot–cold balance in the body. Prevention and treatment of malaria are intended to maintain and restore the hot–cold balance in the body. They use various local medicinal plants for the treatment of malaria, by drinking, bathing, massage, inhalation and cataplasm. Plants used have been proven scientifically to have pharmacological activity as true antimalarials and/or indirect antimalarials.
Conclusion
Ethnomedicine practice of Tetun people on malaria is proven to contain scientific truth, although it is built on the basis of concepts that are different or even contrary to the true etiology of malaria.
Objective: This study aims to document ethnomedicinal plants used in the traditional treatment of malaria in some areas of Malaka District in West Timor, Indonesia. Methods: Semi-structured questionnaire interviews and focused group discussion were used to gather ethnomedicine data from traditional healers and people who know about traditional medicines. The study involved 38 informants, 30 women and 8 men, aged between 32-90 years, from 10 villages in 4 sub-districts. Results: A total of 44 plants species belonging to 25 families used for the treatment of malaria in some area of Malaka. Calotropis gigantea, Cleome rutidosperma, and Physalis angulata were the most cited for oral administration. Jatropha curcas, Garuga floribunda, and Calotropis gigantea were the most used by massage method. For the bathing method of treatment, Tamarindus indica was the most cited. Conclusion: Indigenous people of Malaka in West Timor have a culture of ethnomedicine for malaria treatments that is mainly based on local plants, and is transmitted from one generation to the next by oral instructions.
Traditional medicine is a term imposed on pre-scientific medical systems, and defines as a sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on theories, beliefs and experiences of different cultural customs used in health care, disease prevention and increased physical and mental performance, which have been used for generations from one generation to the next [3,4]. Malaria is an ancient disease that has not been fully eradicated until this time [5]. Since long time ago, malaria was the main infectious disease that often attacks Timorese people, especially in Belu and Malaka Districts in West Timor (Indonesia). Several old manuscripts noted that Timorese people in early of 19 th century were suffered from malaria which caused many deaths [6,7]. Until this time, Belu and Malaka Districts are still hyper-endemic areas of malaria. According to the Global Fund report, in 2014, Belu and Malaka Districts were classified as high malaria endemic areas, with the Annual Parasite Insidence (API) of 12.87o/oo and 11.58o/oo respectively, higher than Indonesian average API 1.38o/oo. Various programs for malaria prevention and eradication sponsored by the Indonesian Ministry of Health and World Health Organization such as insecticide-impregnated net, fogging, mass blood survey for early diagnosis and prompt treatment, and treat malaria patient using Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) have been implemented, but decreasing of the API value is still not too convincing [8].Cultural factors that influence public attitudes and acceptance on the programs of prevention and treatment of malaria are estimated to be one of the obstacles to the success of these programs. The implementation of various disease control programs and strategies often faces major challenges stemming from the social and cultural
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