African Traditional Medicine Use amongst People Living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa in the Era of Antiretroviral Therapy

It is estimated that 80% of the global population uses alternative or traditional medicine. In resource poor countries, traditional health practitioners are the primary and often the only providers of health care to the majority of the population including people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA). Globally, there are approximately 36.9 million people living with HIV and nearly 70% of these are in Sub-Saharan Africa. PLWA often use African Traditional Medicines either alone or in combination with western medicines including antiretroviral therapy. The purpose of this review is to consider from available literature, the current trends in traditional medicine use amongst PLWA in Sub-Saharan Africa. This review also evaluates the existing research literature on the collaboration efforts between traditional health practitioners and orthodox medical practitioners in HIV/AIDS interventions. The commonly used traditional medicines in the management of HIV/AIDS as well as safety and potential Drug-herb interactions will also be considered in detail.