23 February 2008, Pietermaritzburg
Programme Director
MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal, Ms Peggy Nkonyeni
Chairperson of the Presidential Task Team, Prof Herbert Vilakazi
Members of the Task Team
Officials from both national and provincial Health Departments
Ladies and gentlemen.
As most of you would know, some of us have been subjected to a great deal of ridicule by those who sought to question our belief and standpoint on what is an actual fact and acceptable way of life for the millions of our people, in South Africa and the rest of the African continent.
With your support and encouragement by the millions of our people educated and uneducated, rich and poor, we are proud to declare that, indeed we are on course! As we all know, apart from its medicinal values, African Traditional Medicine also defines us as a people. It is this heritage amongst others that we are not simply going to give away purely because of the humiliation we get subjected to for the things we believe in.
African Traditional Medicine and the practice of consulting with traditional healers continue to form a critical component of healthcare for millions of our people. It is in this context therefore that as the Department of Health acting on the advice and with the backing of our President feel confident that the direction we are taking in as far as African Traditional Medicine is concerned is in fact a correct. I am sure in my mind that as you perform your tasks as members of the Presidential Task Team, you will continue to do so fully mindful of this fact.
In 2006, we hosted an African Traditional Medicine (ATM) workshop looking at the inclusion of ATM in the National Health System. At that workshop, we were glad to have in our midst international health experts from eight countries and a representative from the African Union, as well as policymakers, researchers, medical practitioners, traditional health practitioners and government representatives. The discussions at that workshop centred around the following key areas:
Naturally, we were quite happy with the outcome of that process as part of shaping future work including what should now be points for discussion in this policy Indaba.
Programme Director, ladies and gentlemen, allow me now to reflect briefly on the key strategic areas that are going to guide the deliberations of this policy Indaba.
I am sure we all know by now that one of the critical terms of reference for this Task Team is to make recommendations with regard to a national policy and Legal framework for the institutionalization of ATM in our country's healthcare system. The Task Team is also expected to make proposals for possible models to protect ATM. This regulatory and legal framework is essential given the importance of protecting practitioners and also the need to protect the public against those who make false claims that they are traditional health practitioners.
One of the many challenges facing this sector is the daily emergence of charlatans who promise our desperate help-seeking people all sorts of things that are not practically possible to deliver. At the end of this policy Indaba, we should be able to put concrete proposals that should inform policy on how we are going to deal with this challenge which is tarnishing the image of this sector.
The second critical issue that I wish to address myself to is research and development as far as ATM is concerned. I am aware that in one of the commissions this matter is expected to be addressed.
Members of this commission need to engage on a range of critically important issues regarding R&D including the non-existence of Pharmacopoeia for ATM, the naming of herbs and medicinal plants vis-à-vis African languages and the challenge of conventional research methods in the context of the uniqueness of ATM, to mention just a few challenges.
You will have to deliberate on the issue of sustainability of the ATM and that is the conservation and production of traditional medicinal plants. As we develop policy towards the institutionalization of ATM, we need to be mindful of the changing geo-environmental factors such as climatic changes that could have a negative impact on the sustainability of traditional medicines. If we don't do so, we would be failing practitioners and millions of people depending on them of this gift from nature.
This meeting will have to deliberate on the issue of patent and/or ownership rights as far as ATM is concerned. We know that the practice and knowledge systems of ATM are largely un-documented.
It is this lack of documentation which sometimes create serious legal challenges when commercial interests come into play. I wish to call on everyone of us involved in this process to thoroughly deal with this matter in a way that will ensure conclusion. Where possible and appropriate, let us work with other sister Departments such as Trade and Industry so that we are able to tap into the knowledge, legal and otherwise in finding solutions to these critical questions.
I would like to thank you all for the seriousness with which you are taking this task given to us by the President. I call on all of us to remain focused in our resolve to deliver on this mandate. We are doing this task not for the luxury or pleasure of doing so. We are doing it as part of responding to the millions of our people who are dependent on the sector for their health.
Equally important the rest of the world is looking at us as to how we are progressing on this front. As most of you would recall, when we hosted the 3rd Ordinary Session of the Conference of African Union Ministers of Health in Johannesburg last year, the issue of African Traditional Medicine once more took centre stage.
As Ministers of Health in the continent, we were required to report back on the progress made in as far as the implementation of the Plan of Action for the African Union's Decade of Traditional Medicine (2001-2010) is concerned. We therefore do not have the luxury of time on our side, for 2010 is just around the corner.
Let us ensure therefore that when our name is called then to report on this matter, we can do so with pride.
I would like to wish you well in your deliberations.
Thank you very much.