Arab world
The dominant traditional medical system in the Arab world, also known as Islamic traditional
medicine (and which is also prevalent in other countries such as the Islamic Republic of Iran), is a
highly codified, systematized form of ancient Hippocratic medicine developed by Muslim herbalists,
pharmacologists, chemists and physicians during the medieval period. Therapies used in Islamic
medicine range from herbal medication to phlebotomy (a vein incision made at a specific time in
the Islamic lunar calendar) to spiritual practices such as praying. In this tradition, knowledge is
transmitted orally and on an individual basis, although some countries are now including traditional
medicine in the curriculum in their modern medical schools.
Other traditional health practices in the Arab region, especially in the Maghreb countries, intermix
Islamic and local popular beliefs. Here, the human body is seen as a harmonious divine creation,
highly exposed to the risk of disease. These diseases are believed to be caused by an individual’s
social relationships or are attributed to infractions of social or religious rules, a sorcerer’s curse or
the evil eye. Healers resort to divination to identify the cause of the problem and the particular spirit
believed to be behind the illness. Therapies consist of herbal preparations combined with the performance of rituals designed to appease the deity concerned or expel the agent responsible for the complaint. They only pass on their knowledge orally, and to selected individuals.
The countries of the region have sought to regulate the use of medicinal plants. Some countries
have established policies, regulations and bodies to assess the efficacy of traditional medicinal
teachings in preventing and treating disease and to highlight the benefits of including them in
national health care systems. In other countries, popular use of traditional medicine has not
translated into any specific policy measure; consequently, traditional medicine is not an integral
part of the national health care system and there are no national policies to regulate its practice.
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