Hand Book of Common Ethiopian Traditional Medicinal Plants: Their Parts and Uses for Human and Animal Treatments

Abstract

Medicinal plants are very vital in their uses for medication, besides providing ecological, economic, and cultural services. Every human community responds to the challenge of maintaining health and treating diseases by developing a medical system based on indigenous theories, beliefs and experience that are handed down from generation to generation. Health is a fundamental human right. Access to health care, which includes access to essential drugs, is a prerequisite for realizing that right. Essential drugs play a crucial role in many aspects of health care. However, many people throughout the world cannot obtain the drugs they need, either because they are not available or too expensive, or because there are no adequate facilities or trained professionals to prescribe them. World health organization has estimated that at least one-third of the world's population lack access to essential drugs; in poorer areas of Asia and Africa, this figure may be as high as one-half. Traditional Medicine has been used to fill this gap, particularly in developing countries. In Ethiopia, traditional medicine has always existed and was practiced more than we might think. The aim of this material was to document common medicinal plants used for traditional treatments with their parts, use, ecology, and quality control. The local practitioners provided various traditional medications to their patients' diseases such as stomachaches, asthma, dysentery, malaria, evil eyes, cancer, skin diseases, and headaches and so on. The uses of medicinal plants for human and animal treatments are practiced from time immemorial. Stream/riverbanks, cultivated lands, disturbed sites, bush lands, forested areas and their margins, woodlands, grasslands, and home gardens are major habitats of medicinal plants. Above more, medicinal plants used for traditional medicine play a significant role in the healthcare of the majority of the people in Ethiopia. The major threats to medicinal plants are habitat destruction, urbanization, agricultural expansion, investment, road construction, and deforestation. Because of these, medicinal plants are being declined and lost with their habitats. Community-and research-based conservation mechanisms could be an appropriate approach for mitigating the problems pertinent to the loss of medicinal plants and their habitats and for documenting medicinal plants.