Ethnopharmacological relevance: Because about 50% of the Zimbabwean population is at risk of\ncontracting malaria each year, the majority of people, especially in rural areas, use traditional plantbased\nmedicines to combat malaria. This explorative ethnobotanical survey was undertaken to document\nhow malaria is conceptualized and diagnosed by traditional healers, and to record the medicinal plants\nused in the prevention and treatment of malaria, their mode of preparation and administration.\nMaterials and methods: The research was conducted in three villages in Headman Muzite's area and in\nChiriga village. These villages are located in the Chipinge district in the Manicaland Province in\nZimbabwe.Traditional healers were selected with the assistance of the headman of the Muzite area\nand a representative of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association. Semi-structured interviews\nwere conducted with 14 traditional healers from four villages in the Chipinge district in Zimbabwe.\nResults: In total, 28 plants from 16 plant families are used by the healers who manage malaria with\nmedicinal plants. The most cited plant is Cassia abbreviata Oliv. (Leguminosae) followed by Aristolochia\nalbida Duch (Aristolociaceae) and Toddalia asiatica (L.) Lam. (Rutaceae). Roots (55.3%) are the most\ncommon part used. Most of the plant parts used to treat malaria are stored as dried powders in closed\nbottles. The powders are soaked in hot or cold water and the water extract is taken as the active\nmedicine. The healers consider their medicinal knowledge as a spiritual family heritage. Only 25% of the\nhealers refer the malaria patients that do not respond to their treatment to hospital ââ?¬â?? they believe evil\nspirits cause their remedies to failure and they would rather try a different plant or perform a cleansing\nceremony.\nConclusions: Local knowledge of medicinal plants in the treatment of malaria still exists in all four\nvillages surveyed and traditional healers appear to play an important role in primary health care services\nin this remote rural area in Zimbabwe. This explorative survey underscores the need to preserve and\ndocument traditional healing for managing malaria and for more future scientific research on the plants\nto determine their efficacy and their safety. This could improve their traditional anti-malarial recipes and\nmight contribute to a better integration of Zimbabwean traditional medicine into the national health\nsystem in the future.
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