BACKGROUND: Traditional medicine remains the only health care available in many rural areas in Madagascar like the rural community of Ambalabe, located in a very remote area in the eastern part of the country. With limited access to modern medicine, the local population uses medicinal plants to treat most diseases. In this study, we aimed to inventory medicinal plants used by local @entity1 and how those relate to the treatment of the most @entity66 encountered in Ambalabe. METHODS: We interviewed @entity1 in order to identify the most @entity66 in the region and the medicinal plants used to treat them. The local physician was asked about the most @entity66 , and ethnobotanical surveys to record medicinal plants and their uses, using semi-structured interviews and free listing, were conducted among 193 informants in local villages, of which 54  % were @entity1 and 46  % were @entity1 , ageing from 16 to 86  years. The local names, the uses of each plant species and the way they are prepared and administered were recorded and accompanied by herbarium specimens for identification. We also interviewed four traditional healers to elicit more details on the preparation and the use of plants. RESULTS: Our research allowed us to identify six most @entity66 , namely @entity294 , @entity311 , @entity158 , cough, bilharzia and dysentery. Among 209 plant species identified as having medicinal use, 83 species belonging to 49 families and 77 genera were used to treat these diseases. Our analyses highlighted the 11 commonly used species for their treatment, and also 16 species with a high fidelity level (FL   >=    75  %) for each ailment. @entity294 is one of the diseases with high number of species recorded. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted the closed relationship between @entity1 in Ambalabe and plant species, especially when faced with @entity66 . However, most of the species used were collected in the surroundings of the villages. Few species were from Vohibe forest in which a management system on the use of plant species was already established. Therefore, a sustainable use management should be considered for wild species from which medicinal plants are highly abundant.

Medicinal plants used to treat the most XXXX encountered in Ambalabe rural community, Eastern Madagascar.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['participants', 'women', 'people', 'men'] @entity66 :: ('MESH:D004194', 'Disease') :: ['frequent diseases'] @entity294 :: ('MESH:D003967', 'Disease') :: ['diarrhea', 'Diarrhea'] @entity158 :: ('MESH:D010146', 'Disease') :: ['stomach-ache'] @entity311 :: ('MESH:D008288', 'Disease') :: ['malaria']
@entity66 :: (MESH:D004194,Disease) :: ['frequent diseases']
