Healing the Traditional Way by
Sandra Olivier Around 80% of the population in Africa uses traditional medicines according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). There is one traditional healer for every 500 people in Sub-Saharan Africa, but there is only one medical doctor for every 40,000 people. It has been estimated that the whole industry is worth well over R250 million with 70% of the South African population consulting traditional healers.
Traditional Healers' Council: As a result of new legislation, the Traditional Health Practitioners Bill, an interim National Traditional Healers' Council was established. The registration and regulation of all types of traditional healers (including inyangas, sangomas, traditional birth attendants and traditional surgeons) will be oversee by this Council.
It is estimated that 200 000 traditional healers will be eligible for registration. Once the new law comes into full effect only registered healers will be allowed to practise medicine. The new law does not allow for traditional healers to diagnose or treat terminal diseases, including HIV and AIDS, and cancer. Traditional healers who are registered will be able to claim fees from the medical aid schemes of their patients. The register is still in the process of being set up and there have been some legal challenges to the new legislation, which has delayed its full enactment.
The Bill states that traditional healers who are not registered and attempt to practise medicine, or claim to be able to treat or cure a terminal disease, will be fined or imprisoned. Traditional Healers' Organisation: The Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) is the biggest umbrella organisation of traditional healers in South Africa and was established in 1970. It has nearly 70 000 members, 25 000 of whom live and work in South Africa. Membership includes a compulsory one-day workshop on THO activities and a five-day workshop on traditional primary health care. Members also need to produce a good character reference. The provincial offices of the THO are located in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and North West. The national offices is in Johannesburg.
Role of traditional healers in HIV and AIDS: Due to the importance of traditional healers in South African society the government needs to actively involve them in its HIV and AIDS Care, Management and Treatment Plan. This means providing training for traditional healers on the science, prevention, treatment and care of HIV and AIDS. This will be on the understanding that traditional healers are not allowed to diagnose or treat HIV and AIDS using their own methods. They can only support the care and treatment plan endorsed by the government.
Traditional medicines and HIV and AIDS: With many people using traditional medicines to treat the symptoms of HIV and AIDS, lots of claims have been made that some of these traditional medicines can even cure HIV disease. These claims are totally incorrect, as no treatments, including Antiretroviral medicines (ARVs), have been shown to cure HIV and AIDS. There is also evidence that several common traditional medicines do more harm than good.
Once a person has been infected the virus that causes HIV disease stays in a person's body forever. ARVs work by attacking the virus and stopping it from making lots of copies of itself. A person starts to feel better as the number of viruses in the body is reduced. ARVs do not remove the virus totally from the body; as soon as a person stops taking the medicines the number of the viruses starts to increase again.
Some herbal treatments may help by attacking the virus directly or by stimulating a person's immune system, which then attacks the infected cells. However there is very little proper scientific research about the safety and effectiveness of these herbal treatments. It is therefore vital to ensure that these medicines are properly researched first to ensure that the safe and effectives ones can be identified and used, and the ones that can harm people are withdrawn.
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