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Declaration of Traditional Healers
13th ICASA
Nairobi, Kenya 20 September 2003
PREAMBLE
The traditional
healers from throughout the world held a meeting 17 – 20 September
2003 at the Brackenhurst Conference Center in Tigoni, Kenya. Under
the sponsorship of PROMETRA the workshop was entitled, “Traditional
Healers’ Workshop – Sharing Knowledge, Experiences and Challenges in
Providing Treatment and Care to HIV/AIDS Patients”. It is important
to recognize the scientific participation present in this workshop.
The workshop was very important because it discussed in depth the
knowledge of traditional healers that can be used to fight the AIDS
pandemic. It outlined the necessity to conduct exchanges to build
the confidence and respect that will enable collaboration between
traditional and modern medicine.
All the participants,
especially the traditional healers live in communities affected by
HIV and AIDS. Traditional healers live in a world affected by HIV
and AIDS.
As traditional
healers, we are often the most trusted and accessible health care
providers in our communities. We care for HIV+ people and their
families. They come to us for understanding, medicines and healing.
We have varied and
valuable experience in treating AIDS related illnesses and accept
the great responsibility of continuing to do so.
We welcome
opportunities to share our knowledge and experience for the
betterment of the peoples of Africa and the world.
We commit ourselves to
supporting one another, working together and developing mechanisms
for networking and sharing.
RECOMMENDATIONS
-
Considering that 85% of the
population of sub-Saharan Africa utilize the services of
traditional healers for the health problems
-
Considering
that traditional healers hold positions of authority and
respect in their communities
-
Considering
that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is the major development,
socio-economic and health challenge to Africa and is destroying
its future
-
Considering
that traditional healers who benefit from training become
valuable Information, Education and Communication (IEC) agents
-
Considering
that various studies have demonstrated that traditional healers
have valuable knowledge in the treatment of disease in general
and opportunistic infections in particular
This
Declaration of Traditional Healers makes the following
recommendations:
-
Involve
recognized traditional healers and organizations supervising the
activities of traditional healers in the prevention of HIV/AIDS
-
Involve
traditional healers in collaborative research in the
identification of therapeutic solutions for HIV/AIDS
-
Strengthen the
trust and collaboration between conventional and traditional
medicine for the benefit of patients
-
Recommend
strongly the financial support of collaborative
research between traditional and modern medicine
-
Training of
traditional healers as Information, Education and
Communication (IEC) agents for the local populations
-
Legalization of
traditional medicine in all countries
-
Acknowledge
that appropriate treatment and care for HIV+ people should
include safe and effective traditional healing therapies.
Approved 20 September 2003
in Nairobi, Kenya by the Traditional Healers’ Workshop – Sharing
Knowledge, Experiences and Challenges in Providing Treatment and
Care to HIV/AIDS Patients.
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Declaration of Traditional Healers –
Traditional Medicine & HIV/AID Conference
Dakar, Senegal 12 March 1999
Whereas:
·
For the last 20 years, there is renewed interest for
traditional medicine worldwide
·
Modern medicine is still insufficiently equipped to
fight newly emerging diseases like HIV/AIDS
·
Antiretroviral drugs are inaccessible to most people
affected and infected by HIV in Africa
·
There is an emergency to protect traditional medical
knowledge
Participants in the first International
conference on traditional medicine and HIV/AIDS hereby recommend:
·
That all African and developing countries develop a
legal framework for traditional medicine
·
That all traditional practitioners be empowered to
take an active role as IEC (Information, Education and
Communication) agents
·
That this process be integrated in such a way that:
o Healers collaborate
with the modern medical sector
o Local structures be
created to facilitate people’s access to care services
o Healers participate
in biomedical research
·
That a regional office be created for the protection
of traditional medical knowledge
·
That an international council of professional
traditional medical organizations be created to coordinate and
advise healer’s activities
·
That the PROMETRA NGO be the world coordinating body
for all activities related to the promotion of traditional medicine
·
The sources of the traditional medical knowledge be
identified and promote them
·
That the PROMETRA NGO be the intermediary for all
activities related to fundraising and support of traditional
medicine.
Approved 12 March 1999 at the Traditional
Medicine & HIV/AIDS Conference in Dakar, Senegal.
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Declaration of the
Assembly
OAU Conference
Lusaka, Zambia July 2001
The promotion of African traditional
medicine is more than ever before on the agenda, African political
leaders, scientists as well as lawyers have opened avenue on the
speeding up process of the rehabilitation of the African medicine.
The Uganda government has been a supporter and the initiator of the
African medicine decades with the strength of the commitment of the
search for African solution to health problems of our people. This
was at the recent OAU summit held on July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia.
The Assembly:
·
Welcomes the proposal by Uganda to declare the Decade
2001-2010 as the OAU decade for African Traditional Medicine
·
Recognizes the important role Traditional Medicine
continues to play in African societies, hence almost 85% of the
African population resort to it for their health delivery services
·
Recognizes further that Member states and their
governments need to acknowledge and build upon traditional knowledge
resource-base, thereby making the goal of health for all easier to
achieve by mobilizing and using these resources more effectively
·
Acknowledges that it is unlikely that social,
technical or economic changes in Member states over the next decade
will reduce significantly the dependency of rural populations on
medicinal plants species resources
·
Endorses the Nairobi Declaration formally recognizing
Traditional Medicine as the most affordable and accessible form of
health care system for the majority of the African population
·
Reiterates its commitment and support for the on-going
two processes initiated by the Secretary General of elaborating:
o An African model law for the protection of the rights of local
communities. Farmers and breeders and for the Regulation of Access
to Biological Resources
o An African
biosafety model law and an Africa-wide biosafety system
·
Calls for a speedy finalization for these two
processes and calls on member states to use these models as a basis
to finalize their national legislation by adapting their provisions
to the national context and within the framework of the WTO
Negotiations
·
Requests the Secretary General, in collaboration with
relevant partners and stakeholders to also initiate a process to
draw-up the appropriate elements for national legislation in
relation to compulsory licensing, parallel imports and other aspects
to incorporate in national patent laws that are important to
increase access to vitally needed medicines, and thereafter, to
draft a National Model Law of Model elements to be incorporated into
national all patent laws in Africa for this purpose
·
Declares the period 2001-2010 the Decade for African
Traditional Medicine and requests the Secretary General, in
collaboration with WHO and other interested stakeholders to assist
OAU member states to prepare a Plan of Action for implementation
·
Finally, call on the Secretary General to make regular
reports to the Assembly on progress made in the implementation of
this Decision.
Approved July 2001 at the OAU Conference in
Lusaka, Zambia
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