TRADITIONAL LEADERS ROPED IN TO FIGHT HIV/AIDS
THE National Biotechnology Authority (NBA) and SADC Support to Industrial and Productive Sectors (SIPS) project in Zimbabwe and Eswatini are collaborating with traditional leaders, scientists, and experts to combine indigenous knowledge with modern science to combat HIV/AIDS.
The initiative, which started in 2021, aims to develop and produce treatments that effectively manage HIV/ AIDS while incorporating the heritage of traditional medicine.
NBA chief executive officer, Dr Dexter Savadye, described the integration of traditional knowledge and modern science as crucial for advancing healthcare in communities.
He said the validation of the efficacy and safety of traditional herbal formulations can transform the perception of traditional medicine and provide viable solutions to health problems, particularly in resource-constrained regions.
“For the longest time folk medicine has been received with suspicion, contempt and a lot of scepticism with the majority of patients readily preferring Western medicine.
“Despite their contribution to society, African traditional herbalists have been ascribed the unenviable derogatory title of ‘witch doctors’.
“However, it has been shown time and again, that modern day pharmaceutical medications have their own sets of demerits, including their relatively high costs, higher probability for misuse and often limited availability in resource poor nations.
“Herbal medicine, on the other hand, has proven to be a viable health alternative that provides viable solutions to health problems,” he said.
He hopes with the publication of scientific data, to validate the efficiency and safety of many herbal formulations, the unfair labels attached to traditional medicine practitioners and unnecessary criticism of the practice itself will become a thing of the past.