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Tendai Rupapa

Senior Reporter

ZIMBABWE yesterday held the first of its kind, interactive session between traditional medical practitioners and health experts as part of efforts to amplify the role of traditional medicines in the response to Covid-19 and other ailments thanks to Health and Child Care Ambassador First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa.

It emerged during the meeting that the two sides who in the past clashed could work together and a technical working group comprising members of both groups was established at the event to ensure they coordinate in the registering and testing of the traditional medicines.

The interactive session drew together traditional medicine practitioners, health experts, herbalists, scientists and researchers. During the meeting it was emphasised that no one could claim to cure Covid-19, HIV/Aids and other ailments before their medicine had been tested by the responsible authorities.

The First Lady has been leading from the front in efforts to prevent Covid-19 and other ailments such as cancer. 

In her address, the First Lady emphasised that the meeting was not for competition, but it sought to enhance collaboration between the two parties.

“We have practitioners from the Ministry of Health and the Traditional Medicine Practitioners Council. The agenda of this meeting is to get past the impediment between the two areas as we seek not competition, but collaboration. We now know that the traditional medical practitioners now have a board which is recognised in Zimbabwe. 

“The majority of the citizenry has at some point consulted traditional healers for assistance. This is mainly because the healers and practitioners dwell and practice in the communities which they reside in. 

“The interactive nature of their practices has seen some relying mainly on herbal medicines for treating ailments. The herbalists’ role is critical, with some imparting knowledge on different herbs to administer to children from child birth till growth. 

“The Ministry of Health and Child Care does not refute the use of traditional medicine. The ministry has a directorate which coordinates and regulates the use of traditional methods of medication. 

“Against this background, where even our indigenous muzumbani is being sold overseas as herbal remedy for flus which are similar to the symptoms of Covid-19, it is high time we have this discussion ladies and gentlemen.”

Amai Mnangagwa said as the country was in the midst of the fatal Covid-19 pandemic, she had seen many traditional herbs being embraced nationwide.

“Today, the Traditional Medicine Practitioners Council is here to share with us the different herbs that are effective against various ailments. As ambassador for health, I have humbly requested the presence of scientists from the Ministry of Health and Child Care in order for us to have an interactive session where we can brainstorm and discuss how we can progress with the knowledgeable garnered,” she said.

She said Zimbabwe could be on the brink of a medical revolution if the two parties collaborated on ground-breaking medical researches.

“We might be on the brink of a medical revolution if there is collaboration on ground-breaking medical researches. Good health should be accessible to all and it is up to us,” she said.

Ms Joice Guhwa, a member of the Traditional Medicines Practitioners Council secretariat said: “We want to collaborate and work together without suspicion and understanding each other. What makes us work together is appreciating our strengths and seeking to understand how others go about their processes. 

“In traditional medicine, our weakness is that we have no testing capacity and as a result we may cure people of what we do not know. We now need safety standards so that we understand that which we are giving to the people.”

Traditional medical practitioners who attended the meeting voiced concern that they were being sidelined, while their medicines were taking long to be tested whereupon scientist Professor Nicholas Midzi the director National Institute of Health Research and Mr Onias Ndoro the director Traditional medicine in the Ministry of Health and Child Care came up with responses.

Said Prof Midzi: “We want to let you know why we insist that all medicine be tested before being put to use. Some grew up being given tradition medicine and we appreciate that their medicine works. We however, have institutions that insist on having medicines tested and registered so that it is not harmful to users. These trials may delay things, but they are also important in marketing the medicines.”

Prof Midzi said as researchers, they also wanted traditional medicine practitioners to succeed, but all this had to be done within the confines of the law. He said it was every researcher’s wish to work closely with traditional medicine practitioners.

Mr Ndoro weighed in saying all medicines needed to be registered and sent for clinical trials before they can be made to be used by the people. 

“They need to be checked for ethics so that they do not endanger people.”

Another scientist Dr Cephas Msipa echoed similar sentiments and said there was need for phytochemical analysis of medicines to ensure it was not harmful to users. 

Deputy Minister for Health and Child Care Dr John Mangwiro spoke on the way forward and implored traditional medical practitioners to follow the laws of the land and cooperate with authorities in the search for medicines for the benefit of the nation.

“There are others who are chasing after money and those who want to help. As we leave this place Amai, We humbly urge you to assist us going forward. We promise to look for funds to fund research and I will fight to get the money in the shortest possible time,” he said.

“We should not do like in the olden days when people used to be urged to register with the Medical Research Council when they did not know where the offices were located. When someone comes with a remedy for coughs, even as a ministry we celebrate. 

“We invite the individual and lawyer to write down for us. We will tell the lawyer, the owner of the medicine and he will be asked his will. Even if the person dies, their family benefits,” he said.

Dr Mangwiro, however, complained that some traditional healers did not want to cooperate even if their medicine was found to be effective.

“What we do not want is for people to go to the summit of a hill and claim that they can do this and that, but when we invite them to demonstrate, they refuse. The First Lady has urged everyone to follow the law and the door will not be shut on anyone.”

Dr Mangwiro implored heath experts to assist traditional medicine practitioners with research. 

“When we get the medicine, we will ask the First Lady to help us get machines to produce the medicine in rightful quantities and doses. When we are united we will come together and establish hospitals where we can distribute traditional medicine from one place and this will help track criminals,” he said.

“We don’t want people to make claims that make some people throw away pills and die. What will we say tomorrow? Those people as time goes on will be knowledgeable and they will come back claiming damages.”

The deputy minister urged traditional healers and medical doctors to come together and see how they can cooperate and set operating parameters for each other. 

He added that seminars would be conducted by both parties.

A traditional medical practitioner Sekuru Morrison Mafuta, popularly known as “Mutumwa Wepasi” thanked the First Lady’s intervention. 

“It is a big surprise today that we want to thank the First Lady for her intervention. Many had failed before, but the mother of the nation intervened. It was not easy for the two parties to communicate since time immemorial. 

“I know some of us have medicines which had never been spoken about, but there are ways that have been created by the First Lady that even one who is at home will be impressed to know about. Soon our medicines will be found in hospitals and pharmacies. We fear getting our medicines stolen, but with the First Lady’s intervention, ways will be created to secure our medicines.”

Sekuru Mafuta said he was overjoyed because they held the meeting as equals and were accorded a warm welcome to the interactive session adding that the First Lady had proved that she was a mother to every citizen despite one’s circumstances.

It was discussed and subject to approval that traditional medical practitioners be trained and equipped with gadgets such as thermometers and BP machines which they can use on patients and determine who needed to be referred to the hospital and who needed their specialised care.

National Aids Council (NAC) chief executive, Dr Bernard Madzima, paid tribute to the First Lady’s interventions in the health sector.