The World Health Organisation estimates that up to 80% of the world’s population uses herbal medicine for primary health care.
In China, traditional medicine is largely based on around 5.000 herbs wich are used for treating 40% of urban patients and 90% of rural patients. In India, where traditional health care systems are very strong, 400.000 registered traditional medical practitioners are in practice, compared with 332.000 registered doctors. In Africa, up to 80% of the people use traditional medicine. In industrialized countries, adaptations of traditional medicine are called ” Complementary ” or ” Alternative ” ( CAM ). In Europe, North America and other industrialized regions, over 50% of the population use CAM medicine.
