2023 Volume 3 Pages 121-138
In Cameroon, malaria is a major public health problem despite the response mechanisms put in place. According to the Ewondo Population, an interinfluential relationship exists between this pathology and spleen disease, a disease recognized as such only at the community level. Our main objective was to describe the perceptions and different cultural mechanisms of the management of these two affections. To achieve this goal, 70 informants were interviewed, and results were obtained. The populations attributed to these pathologies, namely, ebem koé or snail spleen and tite meki or an animal’s blood disease describe the characteristics and potential sources of these pathologies. In the event of a malaria crisis, 37.1% of the informants used their knowledge of existing therapeutic solutions, 28.6% passed through clinician advices, and 34.3% recourse to traditional pharmacopoeia. For proven spleen disease cases, 77.1% of the informants directly sought the services of traditional doctors, and 20.8% used their own knowledge. Of the 42 samples identified, 28 were used against spleen disease and 14 against malaria, while 9 were used against both pathologies. This reflection contributes to the enhancement of traditional pharmacopoeia through the enrichment of knowledge of the natural resources used by Ewondo.
