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The history of medicine in the Philippines discusses the folk medicinal practices and the medical applications used in Philippine society from the prehistoric times before the Spaniards were able to set a firm foothold on the islands of the Philippines for over 300 years, to the transition from Spanish rule to fifty-year American colonial embrace of the Philippines, and up to the establishment ...
An albularyo is a "folk doctor" [3] commonly found in the more rural areas of the Philippines who heals people using herbs and traditional practices such as hilot or massage. Their services are considered either as a first or as a last resort for addressing illnesses. [ 4 ]
A piece of alum crystal. Earlier and in some rural areas in the Philippines, alum (i.e., hydrated aluminum potassium sulfate or tawas in the vernacular) is ritualistically used by the albularyo or medicine man to pinpoint a variety of health conditions: a child's incessant crying, frequent fatigue, or even failure to conceive.
The Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) is one of the advocacy groups formed from TAMA and one of their objectives is to: "Encourage scientific research on and develop traditional and alternative health care systems that have direct impact on public health care". [6]
Health care in the Philippines extends as far back as the 15th century. Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, life and by extension health care, was centered around the animate and inanimate world. Traditional Filipino medicinal herbs were used for a wide variety of ailments. Anonas leaves were applied to the stomach for indigestion.
Aside from rituals and herbal medicine, an ubiquitous traditional healing method done by shamans and healers is massage with oils (lana) known as hilot or haplos. [note 10] It is still commonly practiced to this day. [19] [62]
Mananambal practice is on-going into the present. In 1997, the Philippine Government enacted theTraditional and Alternative Medicine Act (TAMA) legalizing Indigenous medicine. [4] Patients that seek help from mananambals are more commonly found in the low-income class and are in isolated communities because of the payment options.
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the era of modern medicine.