Date: 21/01/2003
Source: Department of Health
Title: Tshabalala-Msimang: Closing SADC meeting on nutrition and HIV/AIDS


STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF HEALTH, DR MANTO TSHABALALA-MSIMANG, AT THE CLOSING OF THE SADC CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON NUTRITION AND HIV/AIDS, 21 January 2003

We came to this meeting to discuss mainly the issues of nutrition and HIV/AIDS. But our discussions broadened to cover the role of nutrition in promoting health and management of debilitating diseases including HIV and AIDS.

It was indeed a very successful consultative meeting. A lot of information on the role of nutrition, food supplements and traditional therapies was presented over the past day and a half and we have had very productive discussions on these issues.

We are of the view that good nutrition has a critical role to play in the management of debilitating diseases including HIV and AIDS. There is a need to ensure that we strengthen our nutrition and health promotion programmes to ensure that people know what food is good for their health. Good nutrition is critical and forms a basis for success of any medical intervention against diseases including AIDS-related treatment.

Clearly, the challenges around food security in the region need to be addressed if we are to be successful in our endeavour to promote healthy diet and lifestyle in the region. We acknowledge the efforts made by individual member-states and regional strategies that are being implemented to assist the 14 million people affected by famine in our region. The importance of revisiting our traditional food with proven nutritional value became apparent at this meeting.

There were a number of presentations that were made on new discoveries or research that is being done on traditional therapies and food supplements. Much of this work indicates that these products can be used to boost the immune system, support the body in fighting opportunistic infections and also enhance the general well-being.

There is no cure for HIV and AIDS. We believe that the use of these products can assist in prolonging the progression of HIV to AIDS and ensure that people with HIV live longer and healthier lives. Zinc, selenium, and vitamins A, C and E are some of the examples of substances that have been proven scientifically to have significant health benefits for people with debilitating conditions including HIV and AIDS.

It is believed that about 80% of our populations use traditional therapies. These medicines are widely available, more affordable to all and most of them have simple treatment regimen.

However, it is important to acknowledge that there is still a gap in the regulation of these products. This allows space for unscrupulous conduct, including invalid medical claims within this field. We have to work on this area to protect our people and ensure that they use products that are safe, effective and of good quality.

We have shared experiences on how some of the member-states have approached the issue of regulating traditional medicine. We need to find new regulatory framework as the approach towards registration of conventional medicine is not easily applicable to traditional medicine.

For example, in many countries traditional healers are not registered as practitioners which, in many instances, disqualifies them from applying for registration of their products. There is a need to enhance capacity within our regulatory authorities to enable them to test the efficacy and monitor research including clinical trials on these medicines. We will also ensure that there is sharing of information amongst different institutions that are working on this area across our region.

There is also a need to ensure that traditional practitioners are protected in terms of intellectual property rights. We hope this will also unveil the secrecy and fear of exploitation that has come to characterise this industry.

Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
Chairperson: SADC Health Sectoral Committee of Ministers
Source: Department of Health (http://www.health.gov.za)