Transformation of the Health System in South Africa (2)
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Source: IHN-List
Fellow Subscribers,
In a message dated 97-10-29 Hugo van Damme wrote about The "White Pa-
per for the transformation of the Health System in South Africa." I
agree with his dismay over its wording. The ANC sought the support of
traditional healers (THs) (and traditional chiefs, for that matter)
before the 1994 elections that brought them into power. There was
much discussion about possible roles for healers (and chiefs) in the
New South Africa.
Now the White Paper has apparently come out and, low & behold, there
is no mention of healers (nor probably of chiefs, or traditional po-
litical authorities).
Most African governments that reflect authoritarian, "statist", and
/or Marxist (or modified Marxist) orientations don't know what their
policy should be regarding THs. Some post-independence regimes tried
to make healers disappear by declaring their practices illegal. This
of course did not work because THs provide a much-needed and - de-
sired service for a great majority of Africans. The new South African
government seems to be following the less-drastic non-policy of "be-
nign neglect" of THs, which most African governments in fact follow.
This may be an insult to THs who worked for the ANC, and it is cer-
tainly a profound waste of a great potential public health resource.
But I suppose this is better, at least for the time being, than
the new government trying to control and regulate (or illegalise)
healers.
Maybe we in the IHN should protest to the authors of the White Paper,
as Hugo suggests (I'd go along this). We should certainly try to edu-
cate government health authorities and planners.
THs have actually fared quite well in S. Africa, historically. There
was a collaborative workshop as early as 1940 (and possibly some ear-
lier) that focused on STDs and other serious diseases. The impetus
for this workshop came from the healer, not the government, side --
from an early association of THs called the South African Bantu Din-
gaka Herbalist Midwives Sangoma Society. There have been more recent
collaborative efforts in S. Africa involving AIDS and STD prevention
that have in fact been evaluated and found to be low-cost and high-
impact (see Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 40:503-515, 1995). (TDr
Maseko was a participant in this).
What do others think about the White Paper, and/or government poli-
cies on THs elsewhere?
Edward C. Green
mailto:EGreendc@aol.com
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