# Traditional and Indigenous Medicine in Nigeria

> Traditional and indigenous medicine — herbal treatment, bone-setting, traditional birth attendance, and spiritually-framed healing — remains widely practised across Nigeria's ethnic communities and is formally recognised under a National Policy on Traditional Medicine (2007). Government efforts since 2018 have sought to document, regulate, and selectively integrate these practices with biomedicine, most recently through a 2025 strategic plan and code of ethics for practitioners.

**Category:** Health & Healthcare · **Updated:** 2026-07-26 19:36:35 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/traditional-medicine

## Key facts
- **Governing policy:** National Policy on Traditional Medicine for Nigeria, 2007 (Federal Ministry of Health)
- **Coordinating department:** Department of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM), established within the Ministry in 2018
- **2025 reform:** Strategic Plan of Action (2025–2029) and Code of Ethics and Practice for Traditional Medicine Practitioners, unveiled 2 September 2025
- **Documentation effort:** Nigerian Herbal Pharmacopoeia, cataloguing over 200 medicinal plants
- **Product regulation:** NAFDAC registration required for all manufactured, imported, or sold herbal medicine products
- **WHO African Region usage estimate:** 70–80% of the population uses some form of traditional medicine as a primary healthcare approach (WHO/AFRO)
- **As of:** 24 July 2026

## Sources
- TCAM Policies — Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Nigeria (https://www.health.gov.ng/tcam-policies/)
- FG Unveils Strategic Plan, Code of Ethics to Intensify Evidence-Based Traditional Medicine in Nigeria — Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Nigeria (https://fmino.gov.ng/fg-unveils-strategic-plan-code-of-ethics-to-intensify-evidence-based-traditional-medicine-in-nigeria/)
- FG unveils plan to intensify evidence-based traditional medicine — Blueprint Newspapers (https://blueprint.ng/fg-unveils-plan-to-intensify-evidence-based-traditional-medicine/)
- Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine — World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/health-topics/traditional-complementary-and-integrative-medicine)
- Traditional Medicine — WHO Regional Office for Africa (https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/traditional-medicine)
- Herbal Medicine Guidelines — National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) (https://nafdac.gov.ng/herbal-guidelines/)
- Bridging the gap between traditional birth attendants and skilled birth attendance in Nigeria — Frontiers in Global Women's Health (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/global-womens-health/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2026.1720050/full)

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