TRADITIONAL MEDICINES
AMONG THE EMBU AND MBEERE PEOPLES OF KENYA
Ethnobotanical information and traditional medicines were
investigated and documented in Embu and
Mbeere districts, Eastern Province of Kenya. Oral interviews
were obtained from over 100 herbalists, both men and
women aged between 40 and 80 years. All the herbalists
interviewed were Christians and had little formal education.
Non-Christian herbalists were purported to combine herbal
medicines with witchcraft and were not interviewed. Of
the 40 commonly used herbal plants 25 were used as
multi-purpose medicinal plants (mpmp), while 15 were used to
treat one disease type. There was a correlation between the
outpatient morbidity data at the local District hospital,
and the common incident diseases treated by the herbalists.
Generally a decoction or infusion of the herb was
recommended for the treatment of internal or external
condition of the patients. Malaria and typhoid were treatable
with a total of 15 and 12 plants respectively and were among
the first two commonest diseases found in the study
area. Terminalia brownii was found to be the most used
medicinal plant either alone or in combination with other
herbs. The second and third most utilized medicinal plants
were Ovariodendron anisatum and Wurbugia ugadensis
respectively.
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