30 August 2007
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health's African Traditional Medicine
Conference will conclude today after two days of serious engagement and
deliberations amongst participants. Many of the participants are traditional
health practitioners, scientists, researchers and academics.
The second day was addressed by speakers from as far a field as Nigeria and
Kenya. The speakers included Komolofe (Nigeria) who emphasised the relevance of
traditional medicine in the 21st century. He recommended that practitioners
must record their knowledge and experiences in order to build a body of
knowledge for future generations.
Githae from Kenya spoke about the need to provide political will and
legislative framework to guide the practice. Another speaker was Pastor Vusi
Dube who also addressed the conference raising concerns about the ever growing
fly-by-nights who are very common in cities like Durban. He urged practitioners
to play a steward role in order to protect the African Traditional Medicine as
a practice and an important element of African culture.
The conference will culminate in a celebration of the African Traditional
Medicine Day which will be graced by iSilo samaBandla kaZulu uZwelithini
kaBhekuzulu and the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, S J Ndebele as well as the MEC
for Health, Neliswa Nkonyeni.
This event will bring together more than 5 000 traditional practitioners
from the province at Curries Fountain Stadium. The media is invited to this
event.
The details are as follows:
Date: Friday, 31 August 2007
Time: 09h00
Venue: Curries Fountain Stadium, Durban
Issued by: Department of Health, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
30 August 2007
