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Date : 22/10/2003
Source: Department of Health
Title: Tshabalala-Msimang: Signing of agreement between KZN indigenous healers & Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine


SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF HEALTH, DR MANTO TSHABALALA-MSIMANG, MP, DURING THE SIGNING OF A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE INDIGENOUS HEALERS OF KWAZULU-NATAL AND THE NELSON R MANDELA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, 22 October 2003

Programme Director
His Majesty the King
My colleague Health MEC, Dr Zweli Mkhize
Prof Barry Kistnasamy, the Dean and the whole of the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine
Mr SJ Mhlongo, President of the KZN Traditional Healers Council
Members of Ethekwini Traditional Healers Council, Mwelela Kweliphesheya and Umgogodla weSizwe Trust present
Honoured Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
All protocols observed

It is a great honour and privilege to be part of this momentous occasion. The signing of the memorandum of understanding between the indigenous healers of the Province of KwaZulu-Natal and the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine comes at a crucial time when we face a number of critical health challenges in the country and the southern African region. The important role of traditional medicines in the health care systems of many developing countries cannot be overemphasised. Traditional systems of medicine have become a topic of global importance. In most of the developing world, traditional medicines play a significant role in the treatment and management of some of the devastating and life-threatening diseases.

During our state visit to India last week, we learnt of the progress that that country has made in formalising their traditional medicine and practice. Many of these medicines have been registered and are packaged and promoted like other conventional medicines. We have agreed to work together with India on this matter and I would like to encourage the University of Natal to strengthen its relationship with Indian institutions that have made tremendous progress on this subject.

African traditional medicine has a long history. There has been a period when those who excelled in the knowledge of these medicines have ceased to be seen as a source of life but bringers of misery and death. They were called such derogatory names as witch doctors and wizards. The practice of this type of medicine has at times been associated with evil spirits and backwardness.

However, we are beginning to give a proper recognition to this component of the health sector and our history that has been a source of hope for millions of people of the continent for centuries. For the first time this year we celebrated the African Traditional Medicine Day together with the World Health Organisation on the 31 August.

Traditional medicines are widely available, more affordable to all and most of them have simple treatment regimen. Up to 80% of our people in the south use traditional or complementary medicine as part of primary health care.

However, there is still a gap in the regulation of these products, which allows space for unscrupulous conduct, including unproven medical claims within this field such as those of a cure for AIDS.

There have also been reports of what is termed as muti killings where people are murdered and their body parts are used for certain rituals. These are criminal activities and we encourage our communities to work with the police to ensure that those criminals face the full might of the law.

We are working on establishing a regulatory framework so as to protect our people and ensure that they use products that are safe, effective and of good quality. We need a new regulatory framework, as the approach towards registration of conventional medicine is not easily applicable to traditional medicine.

We have therefore established a National Reference Centre for African Traditional Medicine, which was also, launched on 31 August 2003 the African Traditional Medicine Day. This centre is a joint initiative between the Department of Health and our two science councils, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The Centre will seek to:

* Establish an information system on African Traditional Medicines
* Promote research and development focused on standardization and authentication of products based on medicinal plants
* Identify education and training needs relating to traditional medicine in South Africa
* Protect indigenous knowledge and promote trade through patents and intellectual property rights
* Establish agro-processing businesses based on cultivation and processing of medicinal plants in a way that promotes sustainability and economic development
* And promote scientific research into various diseases that are prevalent in the region and their possible remedies.

The Memorandum of Understanding that has been signed today addresses some of the issues that the referral centre is working on. It is important therefore to build linkages between these efforts to ensure better coordination and efficiency. Durban has a very large informal trade of traditional medicine, which provides wonderful resource for this initiative to become a success.

In an effort to streamline this field of practice, we have drafted the Traditional Health Practitioners Bill that will lead to the establishment of an Interim Traditional Health Practitioners' Council. This Bill is currently going through the legislative processes in parliament.

Our aim is to ensure the efficacy, safety and quality of traditional health care services and to provide for control over the registration, training and practice of Traditional Health Practitioners. Our approach is that traditional healers should come together and determine what should be regarded as acceptable practice and how to deal with cases of malpractice. This should also cover issues of minimum levels of expertise for different categories of traditional health practitioners. Our goal is to ensure that all the estimated 200 000 traditional healers in the country become registered health practitioners and are regulated by a council of their own.

I am glad to learn that the Memorandum of Understanding that has been signed today is not based on a patronising approach that traditional health practitioners do not know and have to be taught by those trained in conventional medicine. This is an equal relationship based on the understanding that there is a lot of knowledge within the field of traditional medicine and both parties will learn from each other as we work together towards improving the health of our people.

The Health Department is working with traditional healers in various initiatives. We have traditional healers as a sector represented in the South African National AIDS Council and we are joining hands in responding to the challenges posed by this epidemic. We know that there are many traditional medicines that have tremendous effect in alleviating opportunistic infections and boosting the immune system. We are soon going to be bringing together traditional health practitioners to share with us their experiences so that we discuss some way of incorporating these into our response to HIV and AIDS.

There are also areas where traditional healers play the role of caregivers and assisting people to take their TB medication. In cases of diseases like malaria and cholera, we are working with traditional practitioners to ensure early identification of the symptoms of these diseases and to alert them that these diseases can be treated if people are sent to a health facility as soon as possible.

The challenge in establishing formal referral link between traditional health practitioners and the current formal health system is that we need to ensure that African traditional medicine and practice is formalised and regulated just like any other health practice. If we refer patients, we need to also take responsibility for the type of care they receive at a referral point.

Traditional medicine has sustained the health of millions of Africans over hundreds of years. Unfortunately, colonialism and apartheid condemned this component of health as inferior and primitive. Oppression and lack of regulation has promoted bad practices and attracted criminal elements into this field.

As part of our emancipation as Africans, we are beginning to recognise traditional medicine as critical in improving health of our people. Our guiding principles as we formalise this field of health practice are that the interest of the public should be protected and patients should receive safe, quality and effective health care.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the University of Natal for the bold move you have taken in formalising and cementing this relationship with traditional practitioners in the form of the memorandum of understanding. I hope that other universities and academic institutions will follow suit and establish formal alliances with traditional practitioners in order to bridge the gap that exists between traditional and conventional medicine for the benefit of all South Africans.

I would like to also thank the traditional health practitioners for coming forward and be part of this partnership. The past experiences of violation of rights to indigenous knowledge and plants have undermined the level of trust that should exist amongst all health practitioners. We are now living in a new order where everyone is equal and everyone's right is protected.

Thank you.

Source: Department of Health (http://www.doh.gov.za)

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