|
Back to Index
Zimbabwe:
Government declines to endorse traditional healer's HIV/AIDS policy
document
Taurai Maduna, Kubatana.net
January 24, 2006
  The
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has declined to endorse the
Zimbabwe Traditional Healers Association (ZINATHA) HIV and AIDS
policy document citing inconsistencies with the national policy.
Addressing delegates
in Harare, Dr Edwin Muguti, Deputy Minister of Health and Child
Welfare said some sections of the ZINATHA policy are in violation
of people’s rights and the national HIV/AIDS campaign. Dr Muguti
cited compulsory virginity testing for girls as a violation of children’s
rights while the proposed ban on the use of condoms amongst boys
and girls is regarded as a negative approach to HIV/AIDS education.
However the
Minister said government will endorse the ZINATHA policy document
when the irregularities have been addressed.
Dr Gordon Chavunduka,
president of ZINATHA said the policy document was the culmination
of various efforts over the years to streamline ZINATHA’s approach
to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He added the document was also meant to
give operating guidelines for traditional healers in Zimbabwe.
ZINATHA welcomed
the Minister’s suggestions and agreed to go back to the drawing
board and amend sections that contradicted the national policy.
The policy document
was produced under the guidance and facilitation of FUTURES Group’s
Zimbabwe Advocacy and Policy Project (ZAPA).
The ZINATHA
document outlines strategies, which incorporate some traditional
and cultural practices and values, which include:
- Allowing
mothers to perform the symbolic treatment of their babies’ genitals
with their breast milk before post-natal sexual contact with their
partners. This helps to control their children’s sexual desire
in adolescence and prevents them from indulging in pre-marital
sex.
- Kuzvarira
(child-pledging) should be abolished because it causes profound
suffering for the pledged daughter and may also result in her
contracting HIV.
- ZINATHA seeks
to be seen as an organisation of healers, which assist the public
in their health and other matters, and NOT as a devil-inspired
organisation as some Christian denominations suggest.
- People should
not underrate, scorn or refuse to accept advice given to a patient
by a ZINATHA healer.
- ZINATHA advocates
for its members to have access to resources such as home based
care kits, food detergents, bandages etc for use when caring for
the sick.
ZINATHA has
a membership base of about 55 000. The organisation joined the fight
against the spread of HIV/AIDS in 1988 when it organised workshops
with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare. These workshops were
meant to address the origins of HIV/AIDS. During these workshops,
some traditional healers argued that a disease like AIDS was caused
by witchcraft or sent by angry spirits.
In a country
where inflation is hovering at over 600%, the cost of medical care
has gone beyond the reach of many resulting in more people seeking
assistance from traditional healers whose prices are seen as affordable
and negotiable.
The Zimbabwean
government has taken a long time to recognise traditional medicine.
In an interview with IRIN News last year, the Minister of Health
and Child Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa acknowledged that Zimbabwe
had lagged behind in incorporating traditional healers into the
mainstream healthcare delivery.
But Dr Muguti
said government had stepped up efforts to work with traditional
healers. He said he believes traditional medicine adds a positive
value to the health delivery system. He added that government was
spearheading research into traditional medicine and had already
established a department of traditional medicine at head office
level in his ministry.
Visit the Kubatana.net
fact sheet
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
