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Date
: 09/06/2006
Source: Department of Health
Title: Tshabalala-Msimang: International Workshop on Traditional
Medicine
Speech by the Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang at
the international workshop on institutionalisation and
operationalisation of traditional medicine 09-10 June 2006
Chairperson
Distinguished delegates and participants
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a great honour and privilege to welcome you to this momentous
occasion which marks an important epoch in the history of
traditional medicine in this country. I would like to welcome all
our guests from other countries in the African region and abroad.
Thank you for taking time to share your expertise and experience
with us over these two days.
I would like to also thank the media for the interest they have
shown on this subject. I hope we will continue to work together in
this process of affording appropriate recognition to African
traditional medicine in our country.
Today, we chart the way forward on the institutionalisation of
traditional medicine as an important element of our national
healthcare system.
You will recall that we had the first conference of traditional
health practitioners in 2004. One of the recommendations of this
conference was that the Department of Health should establish a
focal point on African Traditional Medicine.
I am glad to report to you that indeed we have delivered on this
matter. A Directorate on traditional medicine has been established
within the Department of Health. The Directorate will develop and
implement policy on traditional medicine and coordinate the
activities of the National Reference Centre for African Traditional
Medicine.
The outcome of our deliberations here today and tomorrow will be
very important in guiding this directorate on the way forward in
terms of institutionalisation of traditional medicine.
We will also be drawing lessons from the experiences of other
countries who have taken measures in regulating and
institutionalising traditional medicine. That is why we have
invited experts from at least nine countries, which are China,
Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
The issue of reviewing the current health approach and
understanding to take into consideration indigenous knowledge has
not been limited only to developing countries. The World Health
Assembly held in Geneva last month received a very strong address
from Prince Charles of the British Royal Family.
He said and I quote:
“We should not view poor health as something that exists in
isolation, but which forms as a direct consequence of our
communities, our cultures, our lifestyles and the way we interact
with our environments. The state of our health reflects the food we
eat, the exercise we take, the water we drink, the air we breathe
and the quality of our housing and sanitation. I believe it also
extends to our social needs and circumstances the need to belong to
a community, the need for meaningful work and daily
purpose.”
He goes on to argue for better recognition of alternative medicine
and the need to ensure that the world benefits from the orthodox
and complementary medical practices.
“It is tragic,” he said, “that in the ceaseless
rush to ’modernise’, many beneficial approaches, which
have been tried and tested and have shown themselves to be
effective, have been cast aside because they are deemed to be
’old-fashioned‘ or ’irrelevant‘ to
today’s needs.” Unquote.
Today we are gathered here to acknowledge the local traditional
medicine knowledge. We also have to look at mechanisms of
translating the regional strategy on traditional medicine adopted
by the World Health Organisation Africa Regional Committee meeting
in 2000 into a realistic national policy.
We have to work on the enactment of appropriate legislation and
develop national strategy for institutionalising traditional
medicine. We have to develop active collaboration with all parties
in the implementation and evaluation of the national
strategy.
We gather at a time when our continent is grappling with a triple
burden of disease. There is high burden of communicable diseases
such as HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. We are also
faced with rising cases of non-communicable diseases such as
diabetes, various forms of cancer and cardio-vascular diseases.
There are also many cases of trauma and violence.
Understanding the weaknesses of our health systems, it is important
to pool and consolidate the resource available to respond to this
complex burden of disease. This includes tapping the rich resources
of traditional medicine knowledge in dealing particular with
communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Understanding that we are Africans with a particularly history
dating back several centuries, we need to pay attention to those
things that sustained the health of Africans throughout our history
of denied access to health and other basic services.
We need to invest resources and efforts into the research and
development of African traditional medicine which was suppressed
through several years of colonialism and apartheid.
No one will do this work for us. No one can reclaim our dignity on
our behalf. There is a great deal of literature on Indian or
Chinese traditional medicine. We need to establish those things
within African traditional medicine that add value to management of
diseases and improvement of health.
There are many health challenges before us. We need to be
broadminded in our approach and diversify our interventions. Our
success in the research and development of African traditional
medicine will probably be the best contribution, the health sector
can make to the African Renaissance, particular during this decade
which was declared by our Heads of States as a Decade of African
Traditional Medicine.
The immediate challenge is to combine our rich knowledge in
traditional medicine from traditional health practitioners,
research institutions and other role players and harness our
efforts towards a common set of priorities.
This should include:
* intensifying a research result that supports the production of
safe, efficacious and quality traditional medicines
* developing models and strategy to successfully include
traditional medicine in the health systems
* Development of an intellectual property regime that deal with the
unique situation of protection of traditional medicine
knowledge
It is clear that the potential of traditional medicines cannot be
effectively harnessed without the concurrent recognition of
traditional health practitioners and their communities who are the
actual custodians of the indigenous knowledge. We cannot ignore
their immense contribution in the primary health care over
centuries. The status and profile of traditional health
practitioners has to be raised and strengthened for the benefit of
all.
We will therefore be speeding up the processes towards the
establishment of the interim Traditional Health Practitioners
Council which is provided for under the Traditional Health
Practitioners Act. The Council should guide us in regulating the
traditional medicine practices including setting appropriate
competency levels and defining acceptable practices in this section
of the health sector.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate our commitment and
determination to mobilise resources to ensure that traditional
medicine and the practice thereof enjoy, for the first time in the
history of South Africa, the full recognition and support it
deserves.
I wish you-all fruitful deliberations and engagement over these two
days. I am sure that resolutions emanating from this important
workshop will add much value in our endeavour to formalise the role
of traditional medicine and practice in improving the health of
South African population.
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