Mainstream medical opinion may still be decidedly reluctant to pronounce definitively on just how important a role old-style ‘bush’ remedies, popular in the Caribbean, contributes to the health and wellness regime in the region. However there is never a shortage of eye-catching stories of herbal treatments ‘coming to the party’ to heal long-standing and difficult illnesses when conventional medicines appear to have failed.
Over time, ‘bush’ medicines have held their place in the Caribbean curing culture with mostly women and mostly from rural communities, offering a bewildering array of ‘herbs’ associated with the treatment of maladies ranging from the common cold to cancer. The region has as well, produced its own fair share of ‘bush doctors,’ untrained in the practice of conventional medicine but possessing highly-regarded reputations in the communities where they operate for their application of herbs and grasses in the curing of ailments. Frequently aligned to these non-conventional treatments is the claim that they have worked where modern medicine has failed.
The ‘arrival here’ earlier this year of COVID-19 accompanied by news that medical science the world over was still working feverishly to find a cure for the virus, helped to do a great deal more than set tongues wagging regarding the likely role that indigenous medicines could play in pushing back the novel coronavirus.