Demographic Survey of Traditional healers and their practices in Ikorodu and Mushin Local government areas of Lagos State, Nigeria

Background: Traditional Healers (THs) are known to play an important role in health care delivery system in Nigeria and majority of the population patronise them because of easy accessibility and affordability. However, traditional healing methods are generally associated with occultism, unhygienic environment and lack of documentation of mode of practice. It is thus imperative that their present level of practice should be upgraded to an acceptable standard which will eventually lead to their co recognition or full integration into the health care delivery system in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A demographic survey was conducted on some of the Traditional Healers and their practices in Mushin (within 7 out of 8 health districts) and Ikorodu (within the 8 health districts) Local Government Areas of Lagos State. A direct contact method was used during the survey. This method involved taking questionnaires to each of the practitioners at home or in clinics. Results: The surveys revealed that majority of the THs were operating their clinics on full time basis (98% in Ikorodu and 94% in Mushin) while 54% (in Ikorodu) and 57% (in Mushin) used only medical method for treating patient other healers used both medical and occultism. The environments of the majority of the premises (about 62 % in Ikorodu and 93% in Mushin) were generally tidy and almost all the premises had good ventilation (90% in Ikorodu and 88% in Mushin). Discussion: The survey showed that the THs are contributing their quota in the management of diseases especially at the primary health care level. In addition, majority of the populace do consult and seek treatment for various types of diseases from the healers. However, there is the need for the government to establish traditional clinics, hospitals and traditional healers schools to retrain the existing healers in basic medical practices also to train more practitioners who will add to the number of health manpower at the primary care level