Traditional healers want to be accredited by Dept of Health
"Instead, the department discredits healers as if what we are doing is a myth."
Traditional healers told a recent workshop with the Department of Health that they wanted to be taken seriously.
“We have attended a lot of workshops about various diseases and have started referring patients to clinics but we worry that the clinics don’t refer back our patients,” said Mamelodi healer Gogo Solly Mathebula.
“Instead, the department discredits healers as if what we are doing is a myth.
“But the medication and herbs that they are using at the hospitals and clinics are the same medication we are using. The only difference is the packaging,” said Mathebula.
“We want the government to work with us like in other countries such as China where they also use herbs at hospitals.”
The healers from the Bangoma union were attending a workshop for HIV, TB and monkeypox organised by the health department.
The workshop was held at the Stanza Bopape community hall in Mamelodi East last week Wednesday.
Mathebula said it was about time that the department accredited traditional healers and give them a platform to help patients at hospitals and clinics.
He said traditional healers are well informed about diseases and medical conditions such as HIV/Aids, asthma and TB.
“We want to help.”
Tshifhiwa Tshifhango, from the Department of Health, said the department wants to work with traditional healers.
He said the department has realised that people who are sick start by consulting traditional healers.
“The aim of the workshop was to teach traditional healers more about HIV, TB and monkeypox and to see early signs and symptoms of these diseases,” said Tshifhango.
The department also encouraged traditional healers to refer HIV and TB patients to clinics
“We cannot shy away from the fact that there are things that traditional healers can do to help patients.”
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