Indigenous Healing in Sudan: Ethnomedical Practices, Beliefs, and Policy Perspectives

Background: Traditional Sudanese medicine is a resilient, culturally grounded health system that remains central to healthcare across Sudan. Drawing on indigenous knowledge, spiritual traditions, and intercultural exchange, it encompasses diverse diagnostic and therapeutic practices. This review outlines the foundations, methods, practitioners, and policy aspects of traditional Sudanese medicine, emphasizing its current relevance and potential for integration into national health strategies. Methods: The findings are based on more than fifty years of ethnographic research, archival study, and over 400 interviews with traditional health practitioners, patients, and community elders across Sudan and South Sudan, now known as the Republic of South Sudan. Fieldwork involved participant observation at healing centers, spirit possession ceremonies, mosques, markets, and therapeutic villages. Data were recorded through notes and audio, anonymized, and thematically analyzed using grounded theory. Archival sources include colonial reports, missionary writings, Wellcome Laboratory publications, and Arabic medical manuscripts. Ethnobotanical records were verified with herbaria, and voucher specimens were deposited at MAHRI (Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research Institute) and the Sudan National Herbarium. Plans are in progress to make transcripts, metadata, and species-use matrices publicly accessible via Zenodo, supporting transparency and reproducibility. Results: Traditional medicine in Sudan combines naturalistic and supernatural explanations of illness. Practices include divination, spirit mediation, and symbolic interpretation, with treatments ranging from herbal remedies to Quranic healing and possession rituals. Practitioners include herbalists, bonesetters, midwives, and religious healers. Despite widespread reliance, regulation and research remain limited, though policy efforts for integration are emerging. Conclusion: Traditional medicine remains vital for health access and cultural identity in Sudan. Systematic documentation, regulation, and collaboration with biomedical systems are essential to ensure safety, preserve heritage, and strengthen sustainable healthcare.