Vietnam - Southern Medicine: Vietnam's medical identity?
Vietnam seems to have one additional medical framework: Southern Medicine. Our Vietnamese friend Van explains, “while Western Medicine comes mostly in white tablets, Chinese Medicine consists mostly roots and animal parts, Southern Medicine, unique to Vietnam, is herbal leaves.”
It's fascinating to me, how Vietnam's three medical mindsets reflect the geopolitical forces the country has been exposed to throughout history: 1000 years under Chinese rule, French colonial rule and of course US military activity during the American War as the Vietnamese refer to the Vietnam war.
A people that has been pushed and pulled in so many directions throughout history makes me wonder whether there is such a thing as a 'medicinal identity'. When is it of importance to have a set of remedies that is a true product of one's own culture and people, and not imported or introduced by outside rulers? Are there any studies that have shown a treatment to be more effective when cultural pride is involved, such as developed by culture X for culture X? I China, I've seen this design aspect being played out in consumer electronics and the claim that Chinese understand much better what Chinese need. How about in the health space?
In Sapa and Hanoi, we come across many shops selling Southern Medicine. It seems like they come in clusters occupying entire streets or certain areas of town. Van tells us that each herbal store in Hanoi is owned by a family and that the knowledge is passed down from father to son for multiple generations. We browse through them and they are a mixture of Chinese and Southern Medicine: dried roots, alcohol tinctures, various animal parts and dried leaves. We walk into a couple of them to try and find someone to talk with, but as it turns out the herbalists are busy during Tet (Vietnamese New Year), and the women and teenagers tending to the stores weren't able to answer any of my questions. They only pointed us to the self-explanatory drugs and supplements, such as weight-loss enhancers which are mostly imports from China. It seems that the younger generation isn't that interested in learning the family knowledge. But since the entire country isn't in its representative state, I don't want to draw any conclusions.
Have you had any experiences with Southern Medicine and would like to share your story? I would love to talk with you, please get in touch.
