DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.25843.2 ISSN: 2398-502X

Ethical Challenges in Global Health: Undervaluing Traditional Herbal Medicine Amid Climate Change and Injustice

Ibukunoluwa Akinola
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Traditional herbal medicine has long been an important resource for health remedies in indigenous and marginalised communities. The World Health Organisation estimates that about 80% of people in Africa use traditional medicine to help meet their health needs, and its use became particularly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, traditional herbal medicine remains undervalued within global health systems. The dominance of Western orthodox medicine, coupled with restrictive policies, marginalises traditional healing practices which limits its recognition, acceptance, funding and integration into healthcare systems. This raises critical ethical concerns, particularly as climate change and systemic injustice further threaten the usability, accessibility and sustainability of traditional herbal medicine. Furthermore, climate change accelerates biodiversity loss and disrupts ecosystems, depleting medicinal plant species and disproportionately affecting communities who rely on traditional herbal medicine, even though they have contributed least to the problem.. All these challenges create a wide disparity in terms of healthcare for marginalised populations, raising urgent ethical questions about environmental justice, cultural preservation and global health equity. Focusing mainly on African, and particularly Yoruba traditional medicine in Nigeria, this paper examines the interconnectedness of global health ethics, climate justice and traditional herbal medicine. It calls for policies and practices that recognise traditional healing systems, promote biodiversity conservation and ethically integrates indigenous knowledge into the global healthcare systems.

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