Abstract:

Evidence based Traditional complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) in the management of diabetes and hypertension is essential for its general acceptance in the scientific community.The aim of this study was to find clinical relevance and use of TCAM in the management of diabetes and hypertension on the African continent. To achieve our aim Google scholar, web of science, Pub-med and Cochrane library electronic databases were searched for the period 2000-2017 using specific keywords related to the study. Based on our search criteria regarding the use of TCAM in the management of these chronic conditions (diabetes and hypertension) 24 papers were finally selected and analyzed in this study. The results suggest a prevalence rate of 17-84 % TCAM use among the studied population with the use of mainly herbs and medicinal plants in the management of diabetes and hypertension. Our findings have shown that there is ample evidence of TCAM use in the management of diabetes and hypertension on the African continent. There is an urgent need to conduct research into the potency of medicinal plants as well as find the effect of concurrent use of TCAM and conventional drugs in human beings suggested by WHO in its health policy document released in 2002.