According to the minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said that the traditional-medicines sector should be recognised in the department of health's budget.
According to the minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said that the traditional-medicines sector should be recognised in the department of health's budget. A workshop was conducted on traditional-medicine in Benoni in which she said that she would set up an interim traditional-health council.
Her department has already established a directorate for traditional medicine, but the problem lies with the allocation of money. She said that there is a great deal of literature on traditional medicine in India, the Philippines and China. Hence this should pay way for establish a strong base for African medicine. This is mainly because of the fact that developed countries are also appreciating the value of traditional medicines and alternative practices. One such evidence is that of the support extended by Britain's Prince Charles.The workshop would offer a great deal on the institutionalisation of the traditional-medicine sector, with input from China, India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In China there are 32 traditional Chinese medicine universities, offering five- to seven-year courses in which there are 490 000 registered traditional-medicine practitioners. India has seven registered traditional-medicine practitioners for every 10 000 people and has supported the sector since independence in 1947. The Africans whose history about traditional medicine dated back to several centuries where people survived based on the herbs in grown in the garden and not on pills.
