Traditional health practitioners are key to scaling up comprehensive care for HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

Homsy, Jaco; King, Rachel; Balaba, Dorothy; Kabatesi, Donna

doi:10.1097/01.aids.0000131380.30479.16

Cited by 81 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…WHO has also suggested these practitioners become more involved in standard HIV care. The objective of WHO has been to integrate traditional medicine with national health systems, expand the knowledge base on traditional medicine and promote rational use of traditional medicine (Homsy, King, Balaba, & Kabatesi, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of traditional medicine and religion on discontinuation of ART in an urban informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya

et al. 2011

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of traditional medicine and religion on discontinuation of ART in an urban informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya

et al. 2011

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“…Given WHO's estimation that about 80% of the population throughout Africa relies primarily on traditional medicine for their primary health-care needs, and that patients consult both BHPs and THPs for HIV care. It is therefore crucial and rational to consider THPs as partners in the expanded response to HIV and AIDS (Kayombo et al, 2007;Homsy et al, 2004a ;UNAIDS, 2002). However, an effective response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic require renewed and refocused interest in collaboration between BHPs and THPs (Kaboru et al, 2006a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is further argued that collaboration with THPs has a potential of fostering value and respect of the contributions of THPs in the prevention of HIV and AIDS and also increase resources for HIV and AIDS prevention (Mngqundaniso and Peltzer, 2008;Burnett et al, 1999). Effective collaboration represented by skilled THPs linked to referral facilities could create a complementary HIV and AIDS care system that will be of great benefit to patients and communities (Kayombo et al, 2007;Homsy et al, 2004a;King and Homsy, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are biomedicine health practitioners ready to collaborate with traditional health practitioners in HIV & AIDS care in Tutume sub district of Botswana

Madiba

2010

Afr. J. Trad. Compl. Alt. Med.

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The aim of this study was to determine BHPs' views on collaboration with THPs in Tutume sub district, identify collaboration activities that have been going on and determine approaches to collaboration that are acceptable to BHPs. A cross sectional survey was conducted with a convenient sample of 60 biomedicine health practitioners. The sample was drawn from two primary hospitals and clinics in Tutume Sub-District, Botswana. A pre-tested self administered questionnaire with open-and closed ended questions was used to obtain information. Majority of BHPs were in favour of collaboration despite the low levels of collaboration with THPs and low levels of awareness of the policy on collaboration. Patient referral was the preferred approach to collaboration but majority of BHPs would not refer patients to THPs. Despite the fact that BHPs were not familiar with most traditional practices they were of the opinion that they will not learn anything from THPs but were favourable towards exchange of information and biomedical skills. We conclude that BHPs were not ready to collaborate with THPs in HIV and AIDS care. BHPs wanted collaboration to be on their terms i.e. they prefer the collaboration to be limited to one way referrals from TPHs to BHPs, they will teach THPs but they were not willing to learn from them and they had negative opinions of the traditional health practice. Therefore, lack of specific guidelines on collaboration negatively affected collaborative efforts in the sub-district.

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“…Homsy and King (1996) in a study concluded that traditional healers could be trained as counsellors and educators to disseminate HIV/AIDS information and prevention practices between their peers and communities (Homsy et al 2004). Case studies indicate that traditional healers are capable of performing at least as well as their biomedical counterparts as AIDS educators and counsellors.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the role of African traditional medicine in the management of oral diseases

Agbor¹,

Naidoo²

2016

Afr. J. Trad. Compl. Alt. Med.

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Background: Poverty, inadequacy of health services, shortage of health workers, infectious diseases scourges, rampant shortage of drugs and equipment in existing health facilities make traditional medicine an important component of healthcare in Africa, especially in oral health care. This review was done to document the role of African traditional medicine in oral health care delivery in order to provide a comprehensive documentation, identify research gaps, and suggest perspectives for future research. Materials and Methods: Available references or reports in English and French on the use of African traditional medicine in oral health care were consulted from published scientific journals, books, reports from national, regional and international organizations, theses, conference papers and other grey materials. Literature was searched on international online databases such as Pubmed, MEDLINE, Science Direct, Scopus and Google using the MeSH words "Traditional medicine or healer", "oral health", "dental caries", "dental", "primary oral health care' and "medicinal plants". Results: Contemporary African communities operate a pluralistic health system whereby highly sophisticated biomedical health care co-exists and even competes with traditional medical practices. Though most patients opt for dual consultations, the introduction of biomedicine has never replaced traditional indigenous medicine and traditional healers are consulted for several reasons making dual treatment a common occurrence in many communities. Factors such as the lack of health care workers, inequalities in the health sector due to socio-cultural and socio-economic disparities prevent people from patronising both health care systems. Therapeutic methods used by African traditional healers include herbalism, psychotherapy, simple surgical procedures, rituals and symbolism. The types of medications used by traditional healers were classified as preventive and prophylactic medications. Some practices of traditional healers included tooth extractions with medicinal plants and also in other practices resulting in exposure to blood; practices involving the use of shared instruments had been reported to be responsible for the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Other harmful practices include gemectomy, uvulectomy and different forms of infant oral mutilations. Conclusion: Traditional healers provide dental care, but their work was not integrated with that of a dentist. Traditional healers have special qualities that make them highly effective in primary oral health care therefore making them inevitable stakeholders in primary oral health care delivery. The research gaps in this review include the integration of traditional medicine into the oral health care systems of many African countries and the evaluation of the treatment outcomes of traditional medicine in dental care.

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Traditional health practitioners are key to scaling up comprehensive care for HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 81 publications

References 8 publications

The influence of traditional medicine and religion on discontinuation of ART in an urban informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya

The influence of traditional medicine and religion on discontinuation of ART in an urban informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya

Are biomedicine health practitioners ready to collaborate with traditional health practitioners in HIV & AIDS care in Tutume sub district of Botswana

A review of the role of African traditional medicine in the management of oral diseases

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