Herbal toxicity in Zimbabwe.

Indigenous natural drugs are in common use in Zimbabwe because modern life-saving drugs are beyond the reach of nearly 85% of the population. These natural drugs have caused a number of poisoning cases. In a study of the records of four hospitals from 1971 to 1982, carried out to see how many people had been poisoned with herbal remedies, it was found that the number had increased since 1971. 50 traditional healers were questioned about record-keeping and knowledge of toxicity and Health Assistants were also interviewed.