Anthropological Study of the Role of Traditional Medicine in Disaster (Case Study of the Sarpol-e Zahab Earthquake)

Traditional medicine has long been part of and accepted by the public health system. Traditional medicine is a part of people’s culture and has a significant impact on solving cultural health problems. Despite the increasing use of traditional and complementary medicine by people around the world, Iranian traditional medicine is not directly used as a complementary treatment method during disasters.  The present study aims to investigate the effects of using traditional medicine and herbal medicines during and after the earthquake. It aims to explain the extent to which the disaster-affected society utilizes the potential of traditional medicine alongside modern medicine. This study investigates the impact of traditional medicine and its use in different areas of Sarpol-e Zahab city from the fifth day after the earthquake and over a period of three years through in-depth interviews with pharmacologists and associated shopkeepers, experts in the field of traditional medicine, and consumers. The results show that traditional medicine played an important role in preventing physical and mental diseases during the earthquake among the people of Sarpol-e Zahab..