Assessment of Factors Associated with the Use of Herbal Medicine in Plateau State, Nigeria

The use of herbal medicine by people is on the increase globally, especially in developing countries. In fact, more than 80% of the populations in developing countries largely depend on herbal medicine Herbal medicine has its benefits but, it's not completely harmless.This explains reason the world Health Organization affirmed that most people living in Africa regularly use herbal medicine for the management an prevention of diseases. It is believed that some of the factors that contribute to the regular use of herbal medicine include cultural or religious belief, social status and educational exposure of the consumers. This study explored some of the factors associated with regular use of herbal medicine. The paper derived its theory on the health belief model. This study adopted the descriptive survey design where secondary data were used. The data were from existing literature from journals, internet sources, and newspaper and government gazettes. The study revealed that there is high rate of herbal consumption in the community which needs government intervention. The study also found that, some factors that contributes to the use of herbal medicines includes cultural practices, religion beliefs, publicity.through media, family and friends. The study recommends the need to educate and counsel people on the harmful effect of herbal medicine use by the health personnel and other appropriate available channels. There is also need to enforce existing regulation on the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of herbal products.