The population in Africa is multi-ethnic, there are approximately 3000 different ethnic groups in the continent; it is multilingual, there are about 5000 spoken languages; it is multicultural, Africa has thousands of years of history and civilizations, they still have their cultural traditions which change in different geographic regions, for example, savannas and mountains and among different communities such as farmers and ranchers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health like the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
The health for the Africans requires balancing:
- biological
- emotional
- within the community
- spiritual
and harmony:
- in the inside
- with the others
- with nature
- with the ancestors
- with the Universe
Who has been taking care of the health traditionally and how?
- the specialist in traditional African medicine
- with knowledge of their environment, plants, herbs, barks, roots and animals
- with their classification of diseases
- determining the cause of the break of balance and harmony, physical, emotional, with other individuals or with ancestors, without separating time and space.
- restoring order, in its global integrity, giving their corresponding treatment
- for people to live life to the full and with cooperation
- the cure affects the individual, its community, the environment and the Universe
- Africans value ancient knowledge
- respecting their knowledge and the knowledge of the health personnel at the closest hospitals, is a way to collaborateto look after their health, without competition, helping them to strengthen their immunological system, improve their hygiene against infections and improve their nutrition and level of energy