This is a collaborative research project on the use of traditional medicine.
Popular remedies have been traditionally used since the most ancient times.
Beliefs and practices related to illness and health are a central feature of culture in all human societies. Often illness and health are part of a general cosmological understanding which brings into one all aspects of human life (including accidents, interpersonal conflicts, natural disaster, crop failure, theft or loss, health, wellbeing, etc.).
In some societies, all happenings are seen as divine retribution, or as malevolence of a “witch”, of a “sorcerer”, or even of an “enemy” or envious person. In order to understand how people react to illness or other misfortunes, including death, there must be an understanding of the type of culture that they have grown up with, their perception and interpretation of their world.
It is also necessary to study the social organization of health and illness in that society, and the way their illness is dealt with. Depending on the perception of the nature of each episode of “illness” the choice of “therapy” by the sufferer and/or the family can be different. It is known that some would look for religious “therapies”, others for herbal, or for some other form of pharmacopoeia solutions. Some may opt for natural remedies, others for magical solutions. Some of the empirical “therapies” used to treat “illnesses” include certain home remedies, which are perceived as “effective” by the population, some of which have been proved effective by scientific research.

Little is known about the efficacy of the proposed remedies and, even less, about their negative consequences, except for some projections of economic nature.
There is a need of more knowledge and understanding and perhaps standardization and regulation of those forms of “healing” which are known to be of proved effectiveness. This is particularly true in terms of doses as most natural remedies, for example, are empirically “prescribed” and liberally used. Interestingly, the issue of cost/effectiveness of traditional remedies, if indeed these were proved to be effective, could be of interest to health systems in developing and in developed world.

“Traditional Medicine across European and Asian Cultures” is a project that aims at carrying-out historical-ethnographic studies on traditional medicine in the Euro-Asian countries and at creating a virtual platform to share and exchange information using the new opportunities offered by the IT&C solutions. Information derived from this project are to be shared and used, through the website, by the various European and Asian populations, by scientists and by anyone wishing to know more about culture, popular traditions and heritage of great civilizations that have guided, at some point in time, the development of historical and scientific landmarks. The outcomes of the research are made available through the website http://www.asiatraditionalmedicine.it
Partners involved in the project are from four Asian and two European countries. They are:
· CEFPAS, Centre for Training an Research in Public Health, Caltanissetta, Italy (promotor);
· COPPADES, Committee for the Promotion of Public Awareness and Development Studies, Kathmandu, Nepal;
· IGIEC, Indira Gandhi Integral Education Centre, Brajrajnagar, Orissa, India;
· IPC – ADMU, Institute of Philippine Culture - Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City Philippines
· NKUA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens-Faculty of Nursing – Department of Surgery, Athens, Greece;
· TISTR, Thailand Institute of scientific and Technological Research, Bangkok, Thailand
Target groups include primarily the General Population (elderly and young people, men and women), Traditional Healers (including herbalists and religious healers), and Primary Health Care Doctors.

Activities include quali/quantitative investigations on people’s beliefs on the causes of the most common illnesses / symptoms and on their choices of remedies to improve their conditions.

The study focused on five symptoms: diarrhea, fever, headache, joint pains and spontaneous abortion.