BBC: The Dangers of Herbal Remedies (Kroo Bay)

The BBC has a series on their website with a diary written by a medic in Sierra Leone, specifically Kroo Bay. One of the first websites posted on this blog was one for Save the Children's work in Kroo Bay. If you haven't checked it out--you totally should. So there might be more of her articles on here at some point--it's a great section.

This specific article is this medic, Adama Gondor, talking about how herbal remedies are affecting health. It's one thing if they're topical medicines (applied to the skin), but a little more serious when they are internal medicines. Babies are especially vulnerable. Here in America, hospitals do treat most illnesses. There are a few non-mainstream providers out there, but even those seem to be regulated. In places like Sierra Leone (mainly rural areas in developing countries), there is not as much access to clinics and doctors or nurses as urban areas and especially here in America. If there are clinics or hospitals, the likelihood that a family could afford treatment at a center is slim. Though what there seem to be plenty of are traditional healers. While I'm hoping not in every instance, treatments tend to focus around superstitions and religious ceremonies (typically not Christian). In all of my anthropology classes (and especially two focused squarely on African religions and religion and witchcraft), I've heard of some really bizarre things that take place in our world. That's another blog altogether. :-) While it would be great to keep some aspects of each culture in tact, some are simply dangerous. Miss Gondor speaks well on this topic, but now that you have a broader background, hopefully it will help you understand her more.

"A severely malnourished child was brought to the clinic on Monday.

Eight-month-old babies should weigh about 9kg. The baby was eight months old, but she only weighed 4.5kg. If we assume she had the average weight of 3.3kg when she was born she should have been getting close to 9kg by now. The baby was very thin, with bad skin and looked more like an old man - it's awful to see a baby in such a condition. She also looked very hungry. We immediately referred the baby to the hospital quite far away in the east of Freetown where there is a therapeutic feeding centre. The mother took her straight there and she was admitted - the programme is free. ..."

To read the entire article, click the title.
To read and learn more about Kroo Bay and Save the Children's there, check out the special links section in the right column.