Traditional Healing, Biomedicine and the Treatment of HIV/AIDS: Contrasting South African and Native American Experiences

Abstract

Traditional healing remains an important aspect of many people’s engagement with healthcare and, in this, responses to the treatment of HIV/AIDS are no different. However, given the gravity of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, there has been much debate as to the value of traditional healing in this respect. Accordingly, this paper explores the extent to which meaningful accommodation between the biomedical and traditional sectors is possible (and/or even desirable). It does this through a consideration of Native American and South African experiences, looking at how the respective groups, in which medical pluralism is common, have addressed the issue of HIV/AIDS. The paper points to the importance of developing “culturally appropriate” forms of treatment that emphasise complementary rather than adversarial engagement between the traditional and biomedical systems and how policymakers can best facilitate this.

The experiences and challenges faced by rehabilitation community service therapists within the South African Primary Healthcare health system

“…In critically analysing the institution-based healthcare system and the role of patients as passive recipients of healthcare services, the healthcare system perpetuates dependency in the expert-driven and standardised approach it follows without building on what communities have and how they have been addressing health in the absence of a health practitioner (Flint 2015 ; Moshabela et al 2016 ). Unlike biomedicine, indigenous ways of health are often communal with populations being actively engaged in the processes of promoting their health, and interventions are often tailored to the requirements of individuals and their families (Flint 2015 ; Mji 2012 ). Hence Mji ( 2012 ) calls for community engagement, which could be facilitated by these community service therapists in order to draw health and rehabilitation indicators, addressing health in a culturally, contextually relevant and equitable manner.…”

Theorizing the complexity of HIV disclosure in vulnerable populations: a grounded theory study

“…In practice, for a health care provider, it is important to have a clear picture of traditional community-based traditional beliefs and practices so that s/he can provide appropriate advice on delayed HIV testing or ART dropout [ 29 ]. In line with Flint, our framework specifically states that, if we are to achieve universal access to treatment and testing, there needs to be explicit recognition of, and further strategies to counter, the context surrounding the practice of traditional medicine among vulnerable population groups [ 30 ].…”

“…Several interventions have been conducted to integrate a traditional community system in a broader public health system and a great majority of such approaches have focused training and engaging traditional healers’ as a counsellor or educator in health care [ 30 – 33 ]. However, these approaches have been more effective in some contexts and less in the other.…”

Decolonising the mindsets, attitudes and practices of the allopathic and indigenous health practitioners in postcolonial society: An exploratory approach in the management of patients

“…It is further argued that postcolonial indigenous researchers should develop indigenous epistemologies and methodologies, which dismantle, deconstruct and decolonise the Euro-Western paradigms of thinking and of conducting research in indigenous communities 27 , 33 , 34 , 35 Although the two health care systems operate side by side at different levels of sciences, 27 , 33 that is, the theory of disease causation and management of disease, establishing collaboration between the two systems could have immense impact in the fight against HIV and AIDS in South Africa. 27 , 34 …”