Respiratory infections treated by <em>Bapedi</em> traditional healers in the Limpopo Province, South Africa: Extent of treatments and diagnosis techniques

Abstract

Respiratory infections (RIs) contribute to high morbidity and mortality in developing countries, where modern healthcare facilities are limited or non-existence. The aim of this study was to investigate the type of RIs, extent of their treatment and document diagnosis approaches used by <em>Bapedi </em>traditional healer’s (THs) in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. A conveniently selected sample of 240 THs was questioned via a questionnaire comprising of semi-structured and open-ended questions. Six RIs namely asthma, pneumonia, rhinitis, sinusitis, sore throat and tuberculosis were treated by THs. Tuberculosis (84.1 %) and sore throat (65 %) were the most diagnosed RIs. Overall, identification of the aforesaid six RIs by all queried THs relied primarily on clinical symptoms and most of the symptomatic diagnosis procedures used are supported by scientific evidence. This study concludes that <em>Bapedi</em> THs have a fairly good general knowledge with respect to the identification of RIs and have potential to contribute towards their reduction or management.