A pluralistic concept of health
Traditional medicine is not just a matter of diagnosis and treatment: it involves a more complex
approach to life, death, health and illness and a different conception of the patient, doctor,
patient/doctor relationship, individual/community re
lationship, health services and risk factors. Its
holistic approach promotes patient involvement and is therefore more likely to be appreciated
where an individual’s well-being is affected by a disorder of social, cultural or psychological origin
or where the course of an illness calls for individual attention and not just “medical” care, as may
be the case, for example, in some terminal diseases.
The role of traditional medicine should be understood in terms of complementarity. Through its
own resources, modern medicine is in large measure able to reproduce the benefits obtained by
traditional methods, as when the active ingredient of a plant is isolated, manipulated and
reproduced in a laboratory and then sold in the shape of colourful tablets in a blister pack.
Nevertheless, the cultural resources of an individual or community are an integral part of their well-
being and something to which they may prefer to turn to improve their ability to cope with distress
or illness.
Local communities which have been handing down tr
aditional practice for generations and have a
detailed knowledge of the logic on which it is based are best placed to contribute to informed,
sustainable use of biological resources and to protect their own identity and well-being. On the
other hand, governments and the international comm
unity should regard everyone’s access to the
indisputable and unprecedented opportunities offered by modern medicine as a moral and political
obligation. This should not automatically entail passing judgment on other cultures and their
attitudes to life and death.
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