Ethnomedicine of Tetun ethnic people in West Timor Indonesia: philosophy and practice in the treatment of malaria

Abstract

Background Interactions between humans and diseases for a long time have encourage people to construct concepts related to the disease and create strategies to prevent and treat the disease. The aim of this study is to document philosophy and practice of ethnomedicine of Tetun ethnic people in the prevention and treatment of malaria. Methods This research was a field study using ethnobotany and anthropology approaches. It was conducted among the Tetun people who settled in the Belu and Malaka districts from April to December 2017. A total of 94 informants consists of public healer, home healer and traditional medicine users were involved in semi-structured interviews and discussions. Results Tetun ethnic has local knowledge that malaria is caused by naturalistic factors that affect the hot–cold balance in the body. Prevention and treatment of malaria are intended to maintain and restore the hot–cold balance in the body. They use various local medicinal plants for the treatment of malaria, by drinking, bathing, massage, inhalation and cataplasm. Plants used have been proven scientifically to have pharmacological activity as true antimalarials and/or indirect antimalarials. Conclusion Ethnomedicine practice of Tetun people on malaria is proven to contain scientific truth, although it is built on the basis of concepts that are different or even contrary to the true etiology of malaria.

Traditional herbal healing practices for the treatment of Malaria and associated symptoms by Miju-Mishmi tribe of Lohit district, Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India

“…Miju-Mishmi people have also learned to apply the herbs to massage the body, including species viz., E. neriifolia, A. nervosa, C. tiglium, D. pentaphylla, E. phaseoloides. It is believed that, along with the oral administration, body massaging with certain herbs helps to reduce the body temperature, releasing sweats and relaxing the body muscles [39]. The UV index of the reported medicinal species ranges between 0.07 to 0.87.…”

Antiplasmodial Activity and Phytochemical Constituents of the Selected Antimalarial Plants Used by Native People in West Timor Indonesia

“…As is known, traditional treatment of malaria is a symptomatic healing with the main goal to reduce heat or fever, so it is possible that a plant used in the traditional treatment of malaria is more likely antipyretic than antiplasmodial. 21,22 The plants that have antimalarial properties can show a direct effect on Plasmodium by inhibiting the growth of Plasmodium or killing it, or giving indirect effects on the relationship between the human body and parasites. A plant that inhibiting or killing Plasmodium is called antiplasmodial or true antimalarial.…”

Malaria treatment-seeking behaviour and its associated factors: A cross-sectional study in rural East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted June 1, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.28.21258027 doi: medRxiv preprint 6 prevalence of the local community buying malarial medicines at a kiosk without consultation with health professionals [33]. Another study covering a Tetun community in Timor islands indicated the prevalence of community members applying various local medicinal plants to treat malaria [32]. One study representing the rural population in the province level indicated that more than half of the population delayed in seeking malaria treatment [34].…”

“…Limited investigations into malaria treatment-seeking behaviour had been conducted in the ENTP [21,[31][32][33][34]. One study drawing on a small sample at the sub-district level indicated that most participants sought care at health facilities after four days of the onset of symptoms [31].…”