Herbal medicines for child healthcare from Ghana

Abstract

Child healthcare is a very important issue around the world as more than 10 million children in developing countries die before their fifth birthday every year. Most cultures in the world use herbal medicines for child healthcare but this use is poorly documented in the literature. The objective of this study was to investigate herbal medicines used in child healthcare among the Ga people living in southern Ghana. The study was conducted through interviews with 11 key informants, household surveys with 68 (ca. 80% women) people, and ethnobotanical voucher specimens were collected. A total of 42 herbal medicines prepared from 44 plant taxa were reported used for the management of 20 child health conditions belonging to seven disease categories. The herbal medicines were used largely for the management of diseases of the digestive system (14.3%), skin and sub-cutaneous tissues (30.9%) as well as infectious and parasitic diseases (38.1%). Both multiple and single plant prescriptions were reported used and they were mostly (75%) administered internally. In conclusion, herbal medicines could play a very important role in child healthcare in Ghana, but research on the scientific authentication of the traditional claims is needed.