CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Justin Mendy, Senegal, July 1999
THEME = HEALTH
A traditional doctor,
a taxonomist at the Basic Institute of Black Africa (IFAN),
treats thirty to sixty patients a day,
be they rich or poor
Let's take a look at his work-load.
On Sunday 31 January, he had 63 patients coming to see him for the first time, plus the "regulars" coming for a new appointment or to obtain medicine. All in all, there was a hundred of them. This particular traditional practitioner, Kaoussou Sambou, treats thirty to sixty people a day in his tiny room in the Fann-Hock district, adjoining the Cheick Anta Diop University campus in Dakar.
Consultations are held during his free time, (between 12 noon and 3 p.m., then after 6 p.m. until late in the evening). For those who cannot come or do not wish to come, he visits them at home. In the business hours, Sambou works as a taxonomist ethnobotanist in the IFAN Botany Department which is a basic research department of the University.
Kaoussou Sambou puts in at least 15 hours of work every day, including Sundays. He's the son of a traditional doctor and it's from his father that he first learnt the hidden properties of plants. He then went to the Senegal Horticulture School, and received his professional training under a French professor of Botany, Mr.Jacques Georges Adam, who was on IFAN's staff.
Kaoussou attended Mr.Adam's courses, supplemented by practical experience in Africa - in sharp contrast to the brightest of his fellow students who went to France for further studies. In this way, he was able to visit several North African countries, as well as a number of sub-Saharan countries (English-speaking as well as French-speaking). This wealth of experience enabled him to qualify as a taxonomist and to take over from Mr.Adam when he left IFAN.
In this capacity, for seven years he could follow the field work of a student from Burkina Faso, who was preparing for his Ph.D with a thesis on the Acacia. Thanks to this field work which served as a valuable back-up to his father's legacy and that of Mr.Adam, Kaoussou published the results of his research on medicinal herbs in Africa which according to him, is "are simply hidden away in drawers, because there's no funds available".
Today, at IFAN, Sambou continues to help students and other practitioners in the natural sciences (doctors, chemists, geographers, botanists) from African countries and even from outside Africa, in particular from France. This earned him a French decoration for services to science.
Mr.Sambou received his first patients at IFAN in his free time. But the number of patients and others increased so much that they had to wait on the stairs. Another location was urgently needed and this was found in 1984, in the adjoining district of Fann-Hock.
Now firmly established, Kaoussou Sambou works as a traditional doctor and, like his colleagues, follows the traditional pharmacopoeia, which in Senegal, although not yet regulated by any legal text, is tolerated in practice. People arrive at the crack of dawn to get a ticket which will ensure they get to see the doctor during the day, as far as time permits. Appointments can be arranged but one has to wait for at least one week...
When you ask Kaoussou what kind of diseases he can treat, he looks rather lost: "Dozens, dozens of them", he answers. Finally when you insist he mentions those which he most frequently encounters: muscles and joints diseases, especially rheumatism, arthroses, lumbago, back pain, polyarthrities, polyneuritis, gout; those of the circulatory system (hyper and hypotension) and lymphatic system, liver diseases (hepatitis, cirrhosis), skin diseases, those of the digestive system, of nutrition (ulcers, diabetes, haemorrhoids), of the prostate, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, sterility, impotence. "They are many"....he finally says.
However, he confesses that he is not competent to treat all the diseases, mentioning those like cataracts, leprosy, generalised cancers. When in doubt, he refers to officially qualified doctors. They, in turn, send him patients suffering from hepatitis, insomnia. He also works in conjunction with qualified pharmacists. "I am not a guru, nor a witch doctor having mystical power, I am simply a healer practising alternative medicine", he hastens to say.
Kaoussou treats his patients with leaves, roots, tree bark, for a fee of 1,000 CFA francs (about 10 French Francs) for each prescription (in general one every 15 or 21 days until healing has occurred). The first visit fee is also 1,000 CFA francs. Home visits are left to the person's gratitude.
It can happen that patients can't afford the fee. In that case they pay what they can. Some are even treated free of charge. "I never send anyone away because he or she has no money", says Kaoussou who sometimes financially supports families who are in dire need (some have gone for two days with nothing to eat). He also has to pay the salaries of sixteen members of staff. Six work permanently in his medical centre and ten (four on a permanent basis) are sent to gather various species of herbs found in Senegal and beyond, for species which do not grow in Senegal. They sometimes have to go as far as Mali, Guinea, and even Nigeria.
Today, two fields outside Dakar provide certain of the needed products. They are grown thanks to the help of such organisations as Mat-Sahel and the NGO Enda-Third World. In this way it's possible to continually replant and thus ensure that stocks can be kept up. It would be highly desirable to have similar plantations in each of Senegal's ecological zones.
Because the work is ever-increasing, a new more functional location than the present one in Fan-Hock is urgently needed. This will ensure that systematic and efficient work can be carried on. In 1995, an acquisition request was presented for a piece of land of about 300 square meters, in the city's suburb. No approval has been received yet, in spite of a favourable recommendation by the city's planning director. If this permission is given, it would enable this traditional medical practitioner to offer a better service to his many patients, who can't afford to go to an ordinary doctor and certainly can't afford main-stream medical treatment. It would also be of assistance to those who may be "well-healed" but who are satisfied with the treatment offered by traditional medical practice.
END
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