After years of consultations, hard work and dedication to the cause of the ordinary people of our country and respect for indigenous knowledge, and what appeared to be outright sabotage by our competitors, the THO is proud to finally announce launch of its website.
The primary reason of this space is to enable our friends, far and wide to appreciate the struggles the THO has been engaged in since its formation decades ago. Our organisation continues to wage constructive battles against repressive laws and attitudes meant to undermine the essential basics of human rights, of which access to and practice of traditional medicine are fundamental components.
This site hopefully would become a chronicler of events leading to the current status of traditional health practice in our country. For too long policy makers and their implementers have reduced indigenous knowledge to kindergarten and after thought affair. The lobby by pharmaceutical cartels has NEVER been more voracious and wicked than witnessed in the last 10 years of our democratic experience; the cartels sought to seriously destroy the gains made by the THO.
The political economy of health allows for pharmaceutical drug peddlers to rubbish the innovations and creativity of traditional health. Our people must remain vigilant to ensure that the sustained attacks by pharma lobbyist are defused, as we seek hard to elevate the beauty that is traditional health.
I wish you good health you as comb this space for valuable information and knowledge.
Phephisile Maseko, National Coordinator
THO and Traditional Medicine consumers tell new Minister, Dr. Motsoaledi how its done.
We demand ...
The Traditional Healers organisation with other healer formations in Gauteng Province agreed to partner with African Traditional Medicine consumers to demand that the government make available relevant policies and legislations that promote and protect our heritage.
Nine years after the launching of the TM decade by the WHO nothing has been done and as healers and consumers we are worried why WHO is not holding the Government accordable for such negligence and oversight. Why Government can not practically support this work through finance and establish relevant policies to sustain such an industry, which feeds about 27million people which is 72% of the population of the country. More so, because Traditional Medicine contributes about R2.9 billion toward the country's GDP.
Challenges of the sector
The government has excluded healers in its proposed National Health Insurance
Medical Schemes do not cover visits to healers, let alone Traditional Medicines sold by them, this action makes our TM consumers to pay over the counter each time they visit us, which could be an expensive exercise.
Government is promoting corruption and fraud in this profession and the further mudying of the profession by not fully legalizing it through establishing a regulatory council. " we would like to be accorded the same status like all other health professional, and this dragging of feet by government further compromise on our dignity".
Employees are being turned away from their employ because their sick-notes are not regarded professional and authorised. whose fault is it?
Government officials in provinces are corrupt and discriminate against THO for exposing their weaknesses. They have their own activities which they conduct and cash money from government through using our status, run their own organisations of healers and compete with us and that divides practitioners, they steal organisation's database to strengthen their organisations and write out fancy reports as though the monies spent benefited healers
Nothing is currently being delivered by the Traditional Medicine Directorate in pretoria and as such there is no practical support that large organisations such as THO receive from such initiatives not even at provincial level
Government is not doing anything to sustain healer formations
Some officials in this Directorate at all levels, are not interested in promoting and protecting traditional healing but are only interested in promoting their career and status. "What is the point of placing a pharmacist in this directorate if s/he will work to push pharmacy interest, why can't they work for their profession rather?
We demand to have our own Department because currently we are misplaced because the Minister concerned is not interested to understand us and let alone consult with us to understand challenges at hand. If other countries have their own departments of Traditional Medicines why we can not implement this even here, where is a focal point of TM in government
What is the role of WHO if they can not monitor and evaluate if policies are really implemented by member governments. We want all declarations adn proposals made by countries through WHO, UNDP & WHA to be practicalised otherwise it will mean their travelling to those countries continues to be a fruitless expenditure and they should be stopped from touring.
We give the Health Department until 29th October 2009, to directly respond to the above issues raised, failing which healers will resolve on the best possible wayforward.
