Traditional Medicine in Sabah: A Case Study from the District of Kota Marudu

Background: As in other parts of the world, the practice of traditional healing has been part of the local healthcare system for most of the indigenous ethnic groups, since time immemorial. Using descriptive research format, this study looked into the practice of a traditional medicine practitioner in one of the villages of Kota Marudu in Sabah, Malaysia. The practitioner comes from the Dusun Tagahas subethnic group which is one of the numerous ethnic groups in Sabah. The large number of ethnic group in Sabah has made the research of ethnomedicine rather challenging. The practitioner acquired... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Matanjun, David
Bin Jeffree, Mohammad Saffree
Kulip, Julius
Rahman, Md Shamsur
Shimmi, Sadia Choudhury
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
Verlag/Hrsg.: Penerbit Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27651836
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://jurcon.ums.edu.my/ojums/index.php/bjms/article/view/1415

Background: As in other parts of the world, the practice of traditional healing has been part of the local healthcare system for most of the indigenous ethnic groups, since time immemorial. Using descriptive research format, this study looked into the practice of a traditional medicine practitioner in one of the villages of Kota Marudu in Sabah, Malaysia. The practitioner comes from the Dusun Tagahas subethnic group which is one of the numerous ethnic groups in Sabah. The large number of ethnic group in Sabah has made the research of ethnomedicine rather challenging. The practitioner acquired knowledge of traditional healing and treatment which is mainly herbal medicines alluded with some spiritual aspects. He used many herbal preparations in various forms and applications. Similar to the other traditional medicine practitioners, his knowledge and skill regarding his practice are impressive but the practitioner is unable to explain on the mechanism of how the therapy works. Generally their philosophy rests on the notion that disease responds to right medicine but not explanation. There is an urgent need to capture all the knowledge and skill possessed by traditional medicine practitioners, who generally belong to an ageing and fading population, especially those live in remote and hard to reach areas. Scientific research should be conducted to help traditional medicine healers and herbalists to understand their practices before they suffer the consequencesof inexorable extinction.