Report of the Consultation on AIDS and Traditional Medicine: Prospects for Involving Traditional Health Practitioners (Francistown, Botswana, 23-27 July 1990): 3. RECOMMENDATIONS: 3.1 Policy and legislation

Report of the Consultation on AIDS and Traditional Medicine: Prospects for Involving Traditional Health Practitioners (Francistown, Botswana, 23-27 July 1990)
(1990; 48 pages) [French]

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION
	1.1 Background of the consultation
	1.2 Purpose and objectives of the consultation
	1.3 Organization and proceedings of the consultation
2. APPROACHES FOR INVOLVING TRADITIONAL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS IN AIDS PREVENTION AND CONTROL
	2.1 Guidelines for formulating policies on training, research, and ethical issues in traditional medicine and AIDS
	2.2 Identification of relevant programme areas for involving traditional health practitioners in AIDS prevention and control
	2.3 Identification of target groups of traditional health practitioners for training, development of training methodology, and identification of training materials
	2.4 Identification of research priorities
3. RECOMMENDATIONS
	3.1 Policy and legislation
	3.2 Education and training
	3.3 Research
	3.4 Involvement of traditional health practitioners in national AIDS programmes
	3.5 Recommendations for WHO follow-up action
ANNEXES
	Annex 1. List of participants
	Annex 2. Consultation agenda
	Annex 3. Welcoming remarks by Mr M. Tshipinare, Acting Minister of Health, Botswana
	Annex 4. Inaugural address by Dr G.L. Monekosso, Director, WHO Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville
	Annex 5. Traditional medicine and AIDS: Prospects and perspectives by Dr Olayiwola Akerele, Programme Manager, Traditional Medicine, WHO Geneva
	Annex 6. A review of AIDS epidemiology worldwide by Dr Benjamin M. Nkowane, Medical Officer, Global Programme on AIDS, WHO, Geneva
	Annex 7. Country profiles
		Botswana
		Cameroon
		Ethiopia
		Ghana
		Kenya¹
		Nigeria
		Uganda
		Zimbabwe

3.1 Policy and legislation

3.1.1 All countries should formulate a national policy on traditional medicine. Such a policy should be aimed at improving the overall health and welfare of the population within the framework of national primary health care programmes.

3.1.2 A national traditional medicine research policy should be formulated and implemented by a multidisciplinary traditional medicine research council that includes traditional health practitioners among its members.

3.1.3 Countries should consider establishing policies that would guarantee the intellectual property and patent rights of individuals and institutions involved in research and development of new drugs from traditional remedies. Such a policy should indicate how income potentially arising from these discoveries should be distributed.

3.1.4 A policy should be formulated to provide adequate funding from national budgets to ensure the active involvement of traditional health practitioners. External sources of funding should only be considered as secondary or supplemental resources to the normal government expenditure.

3.1.5 A well-defined policy should be followed by legislation that defines and standardizes basic elements of prevailing traditional medicine practices. Such legislation should clearly state the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of traditional health practitioners. Conversely, the public should be educated as to what standards of safe health care they should expect from their traditional health practitioners, including guidance on payment of consultation fees. Ordinances should also be established that ensure codes of professional ethics, as well as penalties for their violation. The legislation should also be directed towards the conservation and rational utilization of traditional medical resources, including vegetable, animal, and mineral products, upon which many traditional health practitioners depend. There should also be legislation to ensure equity in the distribution of income generated from the sale of drugs developed from traditional sources. A review of existing legislation is needed in order to revise it to conform to the new national policies.