Indigenous Plants Used for Primary Healthcare by the Members of a Rural Community in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Reliance on traditional plant-derived medicine motivated the World Health Organization recommendation to improve, regulate, and integrate it into the primary healthcare model to offer affordable, reliable, and community-specific primary healthcare. The objective of this chapter was to describe the uses of medicinal plants in traditional medicine to meet the healthcare needs of the members of a rural community in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Structured interviews conducted with 164 participants give evidence of the use of indigenous plant-derived medicine to meet the healthcare needs. This type of healthcare correlates with the World Health Organization primary healthcare, which emphasizes health promotion through curative and preventive care. The study results also present evidence of indigenous knowledge of medicinal plant conservation practices, which embrace observance of cultural taboos and following the prescribed methods of harvesting the plant materials.