IOL: Health
The government hopes a new law to control traditional healers could be a step towards finding a cure for Aids, according to Nosizwe Madlala-Routledge, the deputy minister of health.
Six years after the process began, a law regulating traditional healers and which incorporates their concerns is finally on the horizon. And the government is hoping its efforts to bring the traditional healing sector under control could assist in finding a cure for Aids.
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) this week passed the Traditional Health Practitioners' Bill after a long process of consultation with government departments, health professionals and thousands of traditional healers.
An estimated 80 percent of South Africans use traditional healers.
The bill also makes it possible for medical aid members to visit traditional healers
Introducing the bill in Empangeni, where the NCOP was based for the past week, Madlala-Routledge said a significant possible outcome of regulating the profession was obtaining a cure for Aids. She said there were about 200 000 traditional health practitioners in South Africa.
"It [the bill] promotes and encourages the preservation of priceless traditional knowledge. Some [healers] may already know of a plant that holds the cure for HIV/Aids. But what would happen if that traditional health practitioner was told not to pass it on; how tragic would it be if that knowledge died with him," she said.
She said a large part of the thinking behind the bill was to accord traditional healers the respect that they deserved.
The bill sets up an Interim Traditional Practitioners' Council of South Africa with the responsibility of setting up a sound legal framework for safe practice. It also provides for the training of practitioners and is intended to rid the profession of charlatans.
A registrar of traditional practitioners will be appointed by Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the health minister, who will be expected to maintain registers containing the details of traditional healers and students.
Those found to be guilty of improper or "disgraceful" conduct will be removed from the register and thereby banned from practice.
The bill also makes it possible for medical aid members to visit traditional healers and claim back the costs from their medical schemes. Madlala-Routledge, however, made it clear that only those schemes willing to pay for the services would do so.
"The South African health-care system has to meet the needs of all the people of South Africa. Studies have shown, for instance, that traditional birth attendants are highly respected people," she said.
The bill will govern the professions of diviners, herbalists and traditional surgeons.
The deputy minister said western medicine stood to learn a lot from its traditional counterpart.
"Traditional medicine tends to take a holistic approach to illnesses. It treats the physical and spiritual sides together. And with HIV/Aids the spiritual side is very important. Western medicine could take a few lessons from traditional health practitioners who see a person as an entire human being instead of just a tonsil or an immune system," she said.
She added that the bill was also intended to guard strongly against irresponsible health practices and, while the state did not want to interfere with traditional customs such as circumcision, it would not stand by while young boys were "maimed and killed".
"Once this bill becomes law, unregistered traditional practitioners will be guilty of a criminal offence and subject to prosecution," Madlala-Routledge said.
Members of the public would also be able to use the council to lay complaints of misconduct against individual practitioners.
Sazi Mhlongo, the chairperson of the National Forum of Traditional Practitioners, said he had written to the provinces asking them to start organising themselves ahead of the passing of the bill. He wants the provinces to hold elections so that they can begin to mandate provincial leaders.
He said the greatest difficulty with the passing of the legislation soon would be the registering of herbs and concoctions with the Medical Research Council.
"Pharmaceutical companies are very eager to register our medicines. It is ourselves who will have to register them first in our names because we do not want other people to claim them.
"Also, if I were to mix my herbs in a certain way, I would not want you to know what I have used. We are going to have to work very hard to do this properly," he said.
He said the forum believed that the government needed to set up registered warehouses in each province where authorities could keep tabs on the amount and types of herbs gathered to conserve the environment. "It would thus be easy to control the gatherers. We could tell them from month to month what was needed."
By and large, he said, traditional healers were eagerly anticipating the passing of the bill. "It is much better to now have something in the hand because we have suffered so much in the past. But now we are going to be walking in the open because the government has allowed us to."
The bill will now go to the national assembly and then to President Thabo Mbeki for enactment.
The government hopes a new law to control traditional healers could be a step towards finding a cure for Aids, according to Nosizwe Madlala-Routledge, the deputy minister of health.
Six years after the process began, a law regulating traditional healers and which incorporates their concerns is finally on the horizon. And the government is hoping its efforts to bring the traditional healing sector under control could assist in finding a cure for Aids.
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) this week passed the Traditional Health Practitioners' Bill after a long process of consultation with government departments, health professionals and thousands of traditional healers.
An estimated 80 percent of South Africans use traditional healers.
The bill also makes it possible for medical aid members to visit traditional healers
Introducing the bill in Empangeni, where the NCOP was based for the past week, Madlala-Routledge said a significant possible outcome of regulating the profession was obtaining a cure for Aids. She said there were about 200 000 traditional health practitioners in South Africa.
"It [the bill] promotes and encourages the preservation of priceless traditional knowledge. Some [healers] may already know of a plant that holds the cure for HIV/Aids. But what would happen if that traditional health practitioner was told not to pass it on; how tragic would it be if that knowledge died with him," she said.
She said a large part of the thinking behind the bill was to accord traditional healers the respect that they deserved.
The bill sets up an Interim Traditional Practitioners' Council of South Africa with the responsibility of setting up a sound legal framework for safe practice. It also provides for the training of practitioners and is intended to rid the profession of charlatans.
A registrar of traditional practitioners will be appointed by Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the health minister, who will be expected to maintain registers containing the details of traditional healers and students.
Those found to be guilty of improper or "disgraceful" conduct will be removed from the register and thereby banned from practice.
The bill also makes it possible for medical aid members to visit traditional healers and claim back the costs from their medical schemes. Madlala-Routledge, however, made it clear that only those schemes willing to pay for the services would do so.
"The South African health-care system has to meet the needs of all the people of South Africa. Studies have shown, for instance, that traditional birth attendants are highly respected people," she said.
The bill will govern the professions of diviners, herbalists and traditional surgeons.
The deputy minister said western medicine stood to learn a lot from its traditional counterpart.
"Traditional medicine tends to take a holistic approach to illnesses. It treats the physical and spiritual sides together. And with HIV/Aids the spiritual side is very important. Western medicine could take a few lessons from traditional health practitioners who see a person as an entire human being instead of just a tonsil or an immune system," she said.
She added that the bill was also intended to guard strongly against irresponsible health practices and, while the state did not want to interfere with traditional customs such as circumcision, it would not stand by while young boys were "maimed and killed".
"Once this bill becomes law, unregistered traditional practitioners will be guilty of a criminal offence and subject to prosecution," Madlala-Routledge said.
Members of the public would also be able to use the council to lay complaints of misconduct against individual practitioners.
Sazi Mhlongo, the chairperson of the National Forum of Traditional Practitioners, said he had written to the provinces asking them to start organising themselves ahead of the passing of the bill. He wants the provinces to hold elections so that they can begin to mandate provincial leaders.
He said the greatest difficulty with the passing of the legislation soon would be the registering of herbs and concoctions with the Medical Research Council.
"Pharmaceutical companies are very eager to register our medicines. It is ourselves who will have to register them first in our names because we do not want other people to claim them.
"Also, if I were to mix my herbs in a certain way, I would not want you to know what I have used. We are going to have to work very hard to do this properly," he said.
He said the forum believed that the government needed to set up registered warehouses in each province where authorities could keep tabs on the amount and types of herbs gathered to conserve the environment. "It would thus be easy to control the gatherers. We could tell them from month to month what was needed."
By and large, he said, traditional healers were eagerly anticipating the passing of the bill. "It is much better to now have something in the hand because we have suffered so much in the past. But now we are going to be walking in the open because the government has allowed us to."
The bill will now go to the national assembly and then to President Thabo Mbeki for enactment.
posted by Dr Philippe Maslo at 08:01
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