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UN Director says traditional medicine needs West's respect
Jillian Green
2004-09-02

Traditional medicine must be respected and promoted by Western health practitioners, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official has said.

Speaking on the eve of the second African Traditional Medicine Day, Ebrahim Samba, the WHO's regional director for Africa, said among the ways traditional medicines could be advanced was through scientific studies that evaluated the claims made for their safety, efficacy and quality.

"If we Africans do not develop and promote traditional medicine, no one else will", he said from Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo.

He appealed to African countries to develop traditional medicine in ways appropriate to their circumstances to reduce deaths from diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS and such disabling conditions as mental disorders.

For 80% of Africans, traditional medicine was the only system that was accessible and affordable.

"For most, it is the only source of hope for the management or treatment of some priority diseases such as HIV/AIDS and sickle-cell anaemia", Samba said.

In South Africa, which has an estimated 200 000 traditional health practitioners, the Indigenous Knowledge Systems at the Medical Research Council began tests earlier this year on traditional medicines claimed to be beneficial in treating disorders, including HIV.

The council is investigating seven products, each of which is a mix of about 50 plants, to determine whether anecdotal claims of cures can be supported scientifically. Parliament is to discuss the traditional medicines bill next month. (Source: The Star, 31 August 2004)

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