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Medics call for regulated herbalist practices
Sapa-AFP
2003-06-19
Kobe, Japan - Standardised training and quality control for traditional medicine must be established, especially in Africa and Asia, to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the treatments, public health experts and doctors said at a conference on Tuesday. About 64 participants from about 32 nations gathered for the meeting, which is aimed at cataloguing the global availability of traditional medicine to make it more accessible and to raise awareness of alternative treatments.
Organisers of the meeting, the Kobe-based World Health Organisation (WHO) Centre for Health Development, hope to finish and publish the atlas of traditional medicine next year. Most nations in the Western Pacific, including China, Fiji and Japan, have traditional healers, who can range from highly trained acupuncturists to religion-based medicine men, Roh said.
Only 10 regional nations, however, are known to have official policies regulating practices of traditional medicine, he said. In Africa, about 80 percent of the population depends on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare needs, said Ossy Kasilo, regional advisor on traditional medicine for WHO in Africa. But the region also lacks adequate regulations to ensure safe practices, he said.
The uncontrolled use of traditional medication can cause strong side effects, conference participants warned. Kava-kava plants, used traditionally among Pacific islanders for a calming tea, were sold in concentrated forms in Europe and caused liver damage to users, said Xiaorui Zhang, Geneva-based WHO co-ordinator of traditional medicine, essential drugs and medicines policy. Many people think 'Oh, traditional medicine, it's natural. It must be safe'. But that's not true, she said. We need regulations, we need to educate consumers and practitioners. (source: The Cape Times on June 18, 2003 )
* The South African TRADITIONAL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS BILL, 2003 is available for comment until July 14th and can be viewed at http://www.doh.gov.za/docs/ (click on legislation and then on bills)
The Bill aims to provide for the establishment of the Interim Traditional Health Practitioners Council of the Republic of South Africa; to provide for a regulatory framework to ensure the efficacy, safety and quality of traditional health care services; to provide for control over the registration, training and practice of Traditional Health Practitioners and to provide for matters incidental thereto.
Kobe, Japan - Standardised training and quality control for traditional medicine must be established, especially in Africa and Asia, to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the treatments, public health experts and doctors said at a conference on Tuesday.
We need to standardise training for practitioners. We need science-based, evidence-based traditional medicine, Pyong-Ui Roh, professor of health science at the Kyungsan University of South Korea, said at the three-day International Meeting on the Global Atlas of Traditional Medicine, being held here.
We must co-ordinate (among countries) to share experiences and information to ensure safe practice with herbal medications, some of which can be strong enough to injure or kill patients, he said.
About 64 participants from about 32 nations gathered for the meeting, which is aimed at cataloguing the global availability of traditional medicine to make it more accessible and to raise awareness of alternative treatments.
Organisers of the meeting, the Kobe-based World Health Organisation (WHO) Centre for Health Development, hope to finish and publish the atlas of traditional medicine next year.
Most nations in the Western Pacific, including China, Fiji and Japan, have traditional healers, who can range from highly trained acupuncturists to religion-based medicine men, Roh said.
Only 10 regional nations, however, are known to have official policies regulating practices of traditional medicine, he said.
In Africa, about 80 percent of the population depends on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare needs, said Ossy Kasilo, regional advisor on traditional medicine for WHO in Africa.
But the region also lacks adequate regulations to ensure safe practices, he said.
The WHO is urging governments (to monitor) evidence of quality, safety and efficacy of traditional medicine, Kasilo said.
Non-government groups can help educate traditional healers, said Nhlavana Maseko, president of the Traditional Healers Organisation for Africa.
The group, with 800 000 member healers, was considering starting training programmes for traditional healers, he said.
They are not familiar with modern illnesses, like Aids. We can help upgrade their skills, to deal with a wider range of illnesses with available resources, Maseko said.
The uncontrolled use of traditional medication can cause strong side effects, conference participants warned.
Kava-kava plants, used traditionally among Pacific islanders for a calming tea, were sold in concentrated forms in Europe and caused liver damage to users, said Xiaorui Zhang, Geneva-based WHO co-ordinator of traditional medicine, essential drugs and medicines policy.
Many people think 'Oh, traditional medicine, it's natural. It must be safe'. But that's not true, she said. We need regulations, we need to educate consumers and practitioners.
Ginseng, used widely in China and other Asian nations, can also cause sleep problems and nosebleeds, among other conditions, Zhang said.
Many Asians like using traditional medicine because they believe in it, she said. But unless you really know how to use it, it may cause you some discomfort, even if it may not have serious side effects. -
(Source: he Cape Times, June 18, 2003 )
* The South African TRADITIONAL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS BILL, 2003 is available for comment until July 14th and can be viewed at http://www.doh.gov.za/docs/ (click on legislation and then on bills)
The Bill aims to provide for the establishment of the Interim Traditional Health Practitioners Council of the Republic of South Africa; to provide for a regulatory framework to ensure the efficacy, safety and quality of traditional health care services; to provide for control over the registration, training and practice of Traditional Health Practitioners and to provide for matters incidental thereto.
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