There is a paucity of literature describing traditional health practices and beliefs of African women. The purpose of this study was to undertake a systematic review of the use of traditional medicine (TM) to address maternal and reproductive health complaints and wellbeing by African women in Africa and the diaspora. A literature search of published articles, grey literature and unpublished studies was conducted using eight medical and social science databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, Infomit, Ovid Medline, ProQuest, PsychINFO, PubMed and SCOPUS) from the inception of each database until 31 December 2016. Critical appraisal was conducted using a quality assessment tool (QAT). A total of 20 studies conducted in 12 African countries representing 11,858 women were included. No literature was found on African women in the diaspora related to maternal use of TM or complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The prevalence of TM use among the African women was as high as 80%. The most common TM used was herbal medicine for reasons related to treatment of pregnancy related symptoms. Frequent TM users were pregnant women with no formal education, low income, and living far from public health facilities. Lack of access to the mainstream maternity care was the major determining factor for use of TM. TM is widely used by African women for maternal and reproductive health issues due to lack of access to the mainstream maternity care. Further research is required to examine the various types of traditional and cultural health practices (other than herbal medicine), the beliefs towards TM, and the health seeking behaviors of African women in Africa and the diaspora.

Infectious diseases are the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Wound and wound infections are also major health problem. Nowadays, medicinal plants play a major role in treatment of infectious diseases and wound healing and they are easily available and more affordable as compared to synthetic compounds. The aim of this study is therefore, to investigate the antibacterial and wound healing activities of 80% methanol extract of Hibiscus micranthus leaves using disc diffusion methods and rat excision model respectively. In vitro antibacterial screening was carried out against S. aureus, S.pneumoniae, S. pyogenes, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae and P. mirabilis bacterial strains using disc-well diffusion assay. Would healing activity was done in rats divided into four groups each consisting of six animals. Group I was served as a negative control (ointment base), Group II served as a positive control Nitrofurazone (NFZ 0.2% ointment), Groups III and IV was treated 5 and 10% extracts respectively. The acute oral toxicity test and skin sensitivity test were also performed before conducting the actual study. The extract was analyzed for secondary metabolites using standard methods. Preliminary phytochemical screening have revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, steroids, phenols, diterpines, anthraquinones and the absence of glycosides, terpinoides and triterpines. Based on acute oral toxicity test the extract was found to be safe up to a dose of 2 g/kg. In addition, acute dermal toxicity test indicated no sign of skin irritation. The leaves extract exhibited varying degrees of sensitivity with zones of inhibition ranging from 14.00 ± 0.333 (S.pyogenes) to 22.67 ± 1.202 mm (S.aureus). It was found that S. aureus and S. pneumonia (p < 0.05) were the most sensitive to the extracts of the leaves at concentrations of 800 μg/ml and 400 μg/ml respectively followed by P. aeuruginosa [(18.33 ± .333 mm) (p < 0.05)] at a concentration of 400 μg/ml. However, E. coli and P. mirabilis were found to be resistant to the extract at any of the applied doses. In the wound healing study, the 5 and 10% w/w extract exhibited significant wound contraction rate of 99.30% and 99.13% as compared to NFZ ointment and simple ointment base treated groups from 6th to 16th day, respectively (p < 0.05). The present study suggests that the methanol extract of the leaves exhibited a potential antibacterial activity against the tested microorganisms and wound healing activity.

Background: Traditional medicine serves as a form of primary health care for more than 80% of African populations. Currently, there is no research documenting if and how African migrant communities engage with their traditional health practices and beliefs after they resettle in Western countries. The aim of this study was to examine African migrant women’s experiences and perspectives about traditional and complementary medicine use in relation to their maternal health and wellbeing in Australia.Methods: We conducted a mixed method study between December 2016 and October 2017. Questionnaires were completed by 319 women and 15 in-depth interviews were conducted among African migrant women residing across the Sydney metropolitan area, Australia. Survey data were analysed using SPSS (version 23) and logistic regression model was used to test associations. Qualitative data were analysed thematically using NVivo 11 software to identify themes and conceptual categories in the participants’ responses. The study was informed by Andersen’s Socio-behavioural model of health service utilisation.Results: The findings indicated that use of traditional and complementary medicine was high and continued to be well used following African women’s resettlement in Australia. The survey found that 232 (72.7%) women use some form of traditional and complementary medicine for maternal health and wellbeing purposes. Most women (179, 77.2%) reported that maintaining their maternal health and wellbeing was the most common reason for use. The interview findings indicated that access to traditional medicine included making requests from relatives and friends who travelled to Africa looking for a similar medicinal plant in Australia and preparing home remedies with advice from family members and healers back in Africa. Age ≥ 35 years (OR, 16.5; 95%CI, 6.58–41.5;p < 0.001), lower education (OR, 24; 95%CI, 8.18–71.1;p < 0.001), parity (OR, 7.3; 95%CI, 1.22–42.81;p = 0.029), and lower income (OR, 2.7; 95%CI, 1.23–5.83;p = 0.013) were strong predictors of traditional medicine use.Conclusion: Use of traditional and complementary medicine among African migrant women in Sydney remained high following resettlement in Australia. As noted in Andersen’s sociobehavioural model of health service utilisation, specific predisposing and enabling factors including age, education and income were associated with use of traditional and complementary medicine.

Household surveys are crucial to get accurate information on how medicines are acquired, and used by consumers, as they provide the best evidence in the area. The objective of this study was to document household medicine storage practices in Gondar town, northwestern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional household survey was conducted from April 5 to May 6, 2015. In the study, 809 households were surveyed from four sub-cities in the town selected through multistage sampling with 771 included in the final analysis. Data on the extent of storage, storage conditions, sources of medicines and their current status among others were collected through structured interviews and observations. The data were entered in to Epidata version 3.1, exported to and analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Of the 771 households in the study, 44.2% stored medicines. Presence of family members with chronic illness(es) and higher levels of household incomes predicted higher likelihood of medicine storage. In the households which allowed observation of stored medicines (n = 299), a mean of 1.85 [SD = 1.09] medicines per household were found. By category, anti-infectives for systemic use (23.9%), medicines for alimentary tract and metabolism (19.2%) and those for cardiovascular system (17.7%) ranked top. Among individual medicines stored, diclofenac (10.7%), paracetamol (9.9%) and amoxicillin (8.0%) were on top of the list. Dispensaries (97.8%) and physicians (83.5%) were almost exclusive sources of medicines and advices/orders for medicines respectively. Nearly two-thirds of the medicines found were on use and a vast majority (76.5%) were stored in chests of drawers. Proportion of expired medicines was very low (3.14%). The use of physicians’ and pharmacists’ advice to get medicines; use of dispensaries as principal sources, large proportion of medicines being in use and very low proportion of expiry showed good practices. However, storage places of medicines were not purpose built. Encouraging good practices through continued medicine use education and advocating appropriate medicine storage in medicine cabinets is required to improve storage conditions and consequent use of medicines.