Herbalists in Addis Ababa and Butajira, Central Ethiopia: Mode of service delivery and traditional pharmaceutical practice

Objective: To assess herbalists mode of service delivery and describe their traditional pharmaceutical practices. Methods: In-depth interviews of herbalists were conducted in Addis Ababa and Butajira, using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the healers was 53.7 and most of the healers practised traditional medicine on part-time basis. The average number of patients seen per week by the healers was 7. Most of the healers do not have fixed payment rate for their services. The analysis of traditional prescriptions revealed that the predominant dosage forms were liquid preparations and the average number of plants per prescription was 1.16. Conclusions: Healers treat a wide range of health problems using medicinal plants in various dosage forms. In the process of evaluation and standardisation of these dosage forms, formulations tested should be made in accordance with the method used traditionally. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2002;16(2):191-197]