Today, herbal medicine is still widely practiced in many parts of the world. In developing countries, a large number of the population relies on traditional practitioners and local medicinal plants for their primary health care needs. Indigenous peoples and Indians of the Amazon rainforest have for centuries used their knowledge of the medicinal plants to their advantage. In fact, entire communities and indigenous tribes of the rainforest earn a living by collecting medicinal plants from the wild. The popularity of herbal medicine is attributed to a number of factors.
Cost is one of the major factors.
In some countries, the cost of conventional medicine is high and cannot be afforded by most patients, thus leading them to seek cheaper alternatives. In rural areas, the inaccessibility of modern healthcare facilities is a major problem. Conventional medicine is most of the time not available to patients. Thus, patients refer to the village doctors, healers and shamans who use plant-based medicine in most of their treatment of aches and pains. Furthermore, in a classic case of demand exceeding supply, the number of western doctors is low compared to the large number of patients.