“ There… you see in the forest, do you see the tallest tree ? This is where he lives”. This is the description we got when we asked where we could find the traditional healer of the area.
We are on the road not far from the little town of Ogoja, Cross River State in the green south of Nigeria. It took me a while to identify which tree they were pointing at in this luxurious forest, but I finally did and it looked very far away. The native doctor, or “ the one who heals bones “ was much further than what we had expected, but after asking more people on the side of the road we finally found a track which would allow our big car to go through. I was already resigned to walking.
We finally reached the tallest tree in the village of Ukpagada and underneath it, as described by the people on the road, was the house of the native doctor. Johnson Ugede is seating under the tree, enjoying some peace on this nice warm afternoon. Johnson is a bit deaf so you have to speak loudly for him to hear, which in an african village can result in having the entire population around you within a breath. We are soon surrounded by an entire village that seemed very entertained that Johnson has received our visit. Johnson is called a native doctor because he cures problems and diseases with herbs and plants that he finds in the bush. His father was also a native doctor and it is by watching him that Johnson could take over when his father passed away.
Everytime I would ask him a question, he would laugh before giving me an answer, with an expression on his face that sounded like “why on earth are you asking me such a stupid question ?” When I asked him if he treats malaria he laughed. “I don’t treat malaria, I treat fever. I don’t know if people have malaria”. He was right. He treats the symptoms, not the cause. Where he lives there is no way to know the cause. The nearest health center is very far and even there, they might not have access to a laboratory to do the test for malaria. But it is not because he doesn’t treat malaria that Johnson is not aware of it. “I sleep under a net every night, because there I am protected from the mosquitoes who give malaria”. The Red Cross distributed and hanged mosquito nets in every household of this community only a few weeks ago. “We are very happy to have the native doctor here. He can cure everything” say the villagers in a common voice.
Traditional healers are often seen as a threat to conventional medicine. Maybe they are, sometime. But often, and because of very poor access to health, they are the only immediate solution to a health problem. “Malaria is a very old disease” says Johnson. “People were not dying more before when we were the only ones treating the fevers, it means that we must be using plants that work”.
In places like Africa, the traditional healers could be more integrated into mainstream health programs as often they are the missing link between the vulnerable communities and the national health strategies. In Nigeria, access to health is a major issue. For example, in Cross River state more than 55% of the women turn to traditional birth attendants instead of going to the clinic or to the hospital for childbirth. The range of traditional birth attendants ranges from traditional healers, family members or church members. This often means putting their life and the life of their babies. The risks are high even before birth as this means there is no ante-natal follow-up. As a result results high rates of child mortality and death in pregnancy are a common occurrence.
One solution could be to train people in the communities to give early warnings in case of an epidemic or to relay health messages to their communities. Johnson Ugede could be playing that role but for that, we need to strengthen the communities, build their capacities to allow them a bigger role in their own welfare.
