Unlike its neighboring islands, Barbados was colonized primarily by the British and did not have the influx of indentured servants observed in other southern Caribbean islands ( Lane, 1979). Additionally, non-communicable diseases account for 9 of the top 10 causes of death in Barbados ( Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network, 2020). One in ten Barbadian adults has a chronic, non-communicable disease and the associated mortality rate per 100,000 is increasing ( Unwin et al., 2015 Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network, 2020). Despite this, the healthcare expenditure ranks high among other Caribbean or Central American countries, with an increase in disease burden on the island.
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Approximately 65% of the healthcare in Barbados is public and 35% private, however, the public system is universally accessible, free at delivery and, notably, includes access to drugs ( Labonte et al., 2017). However, because of the cultural suppression and syncretism that occurred during the enslavement of West Africans in the Caribbean and after their emancipation, many of the islands differ in respect to their native pharmacopeias ( Crawford-Daniel and Alexis, 2014 Sutherland et al., 2014).īarbados is the easternmost Caribbean island and has a population of 287,000, 95.5% of which are descendants of the enslaved West African people ( World Development Indicators, 2019 Jackson et al., 2021). These were all important species used in West African healing traditions and are still commonly used in Caribbean countries such as Jamaica ( Vandebroek and Picking, 2020), Cuba ( Heredia-Diaz et al., 2018), the Virgin Islands ( Soelberg et al., 2016), and others ( Torres-Avilez et al., 2015). (Wild Licorice/Crab’s Eye) ( McCaskie, 2017). Many of the healing botanical medicines used in the Caribbean today are of West African origin, including the use of Citrus aurantiifolia Swingle (Lime), Ricinus communis L. These plants are utilized extensively throughout the Caribbean in the practice of folklore botanical medicine, which originated from the intense cultural convergence prompted by European colonialism, indigenous cultures of the Americas, the transatlantic slave trade, and immigration of indentured servants from Asia ( Bayley, 1949 Feng 1956 Crawford-Daniel and Alexis, 2014). The Caribbean region is widely recognized for its rich plant diversity, ranking among the top 6 of 25 global biodiversity hotspots ( Carrington, 2007 Cohall, 2014). The findings of this study can be used in the identification and archiving of the medicinal plant practices in Barbados and the wider Caribbean, as well as for the larger purposes of biocultural exploration, preservation and further scientific assessment of botanical medicine practices. The findings also show the persistence of medico-cultural concepts such as cleansing and cooling, and identified significant associations between the use of botanical medicines and related practices with demographic variables such as education ( p = 0.05 Fisher’s Exact Test) and health insurance, χ 2 (1, n = 152) = 4.645, p = 0.003. (FC = 28, RFC = 0.24), Zingiber officinale Roscoe (FC = 22, RFC = 0.19) and Annona muricata L. Moore (FC = 30, RFC = 0.26), Momordica charantia L.
The most popular species among respondents (irrespective of use) were Pimenta racemosa (Mill.) J.W. Key findings included a diverse repertoire of traditional knowledge on the use of medicinal plants, which included a total of 29 medicinal applications cited across 69 different plant species and 39 families. From participant responses we found that over 75% of the study population used botanical medicines. One hundred and fifty-four participants completed the survey with a response rate of 96%. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and cross tabulations (Chi-Square Test, Fisher’s Exact Test), with a confidence level of 95% and significance level of p < 0.05. A previously validated survey instrument assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices on the use medicinal plants was randomly administered to residents of three rural Barbadian communities. Considering the need to conserve and document these traditions, the objective of this study was to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of people who are familiar with botanical medicines, as well as any factors that may influence the perceptions and behaviours associated with the use of medicinal plants. The worldwide use of medicinal plant products has been steadily increasing over the past few decades, whereas the traditional knowledge and practices of these botanical medicines appears to be diminishing. Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, St.
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