Between traditional remedies and pharmaceutical drugs: prevention and treatment of “Palu” in households in Benin, West Africa

BMC Public Health

Barikissou Georgia Damien¹  Jean-Yves Le Hesran²  Carine Baxerres³  Edwige Apetoh⁴ 

[1] Centre of Training and Research for Population, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin;UMR261 - MERIT, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), University of Paris Descartes, Paris, France;UMR261 - MERIT, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), University of Paris Descartes, Paris, France;Centre Norbert Elias EHESS-Campus Marseille La Vieille Charité, 2 Rue de la Charité, 13002, Marseille, France;UMR261 - MERIT, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), University of Paris Descartes, Paris, France;Ecole doctorale Pierre Louis de santé publique, ED 393 - Santé publique: Epidémiologie et Sciences de l’Information Biomédicale, Paris, France;

关键词: Malaria;    Herbal medicine;    Pharmaceutical medicine;    Prevention;    Treatment;    Benin;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-020-09479-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn Benin, malaria clinical cases, including the larger popular entity called “Palu” are evoked when people get fever. “Palu” is often self-diagnosed and self-medicated at home. This study aimed to describe the use of herbal medicine, and/or pharmaceutical medicines for prevention and treatment of malaria at home and the factors associated with this usage.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted in Benin in an urban and in a rural area in 2016. Around 600 households in each place were selected by using a random sampling of houses GPS coordinates of the families. The association between socio demographic characteristics and the use of herbal medicine was tested by using logistic regression models.ResultsIn Cotonou (urban), 43.64% of households reported using herbal or pharmaceutical medicine to prevent “Palu”, while they were 53.1% in Lobogo (rural). To treat “Palu” in Cotonou, 5.34% of households reported using herbal medicine exclusively, 33.70% pharmaceutical medicine exclusively and 60.96% reported using both. In Lobogo, 4% reported using herbal medicine exclusively, 6.78% pharmaceutical medicine exclusively and 89.22% reported using both. In Cotonou, the factors “age of respondent”, “participation to a traditional form of savings” and “low socioeconomic level of the household” were associated with the use of herbal medicine.ConclusionsThis study shows the strong use of herbal medicine to prevent “Palu” or even treat it, and in this case it is mostly associated with the use of pharmaceutical medicine. It also highlights the fact that malaria control and care seeking behaviour with herbal medicine remain closely linked to household low-income status but also to cultural behaviour. The interest of this study is mostly educational, with regards to community practices concerning “Palu”, and to the design of adapted behaviour change communication strategies. Finally, there is a need to take into account the traditional habits of populations in malaria control and define a rational and risk-free use of herbal medicine as WHO-recommended.

【 授权许可】

CC BY