Abstract
Background: Herbal medicine has become more popular in Yemen in recent years.
Aim: This study assessed the current awareness of Thamar University medical students about the safety of herbal medicine and the malpractices and risks of herbal medicine in Yemen.
Methods: The study employed a cross-sectional study design involving sampling among medical students in Thamar University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dhamar city from different levels (n=149), (Jun 2019). The pre-tested self-administered questionnaire containing structured questions were appropriately filled and returned for statistical analysis to assess awareness of factors and risks of herbal medicine malpractice. For data analysis, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used.
Results: Out of 149 students surveyed, 139 students (93.3 %) think that the practitioners of herbal medicine in Yemen are not graduates of colleges or medical institutes and do not have any scientific qualification rate, and 103 (69.1%) students think that practitioners of herbal medicine are unable to diagnose diseases and describe the treatment as do the doctors of modern medicine. Also, (44.3 %) of them think that the factors leading people to herbal medicine are because of the impact of television programs and media advertisements for these practitioners. Also the weakening of health and medical care in the field of modern medicine, especially clinics, at a rate of 25.5%. It was found that the prevalence of herbal medicine in Yemen is due to ignorance at a rate of (50.3 %), then lack of governmental supervision (14.8 %), and poverty (8.1 %).
Conclusion: This study revealed that awareness of health professionals regarding the safety of herbal medicine is satisfactory.
Keywords: Herbal, Risks, Duties of medical student, Yemen.
Adel M. Al-Najjar1*, Mohammed Haider Aldholae2, Mohammed A. Al-Hothi3, Abdulelah H. Al-Adhroey4, Abdulsalam M. Al-Mekdad5
*For Correspondence:
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