Traditional Medicine as Part of the Human Right to Health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

Applicable law protecting the right to health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) consists of ratified human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), and domestic laws. However, none of these legal instruments explicitly mention traditional medicine (TM). Nevertheless, their provisions are broad enough to include TM. The Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights have interpreted the right to health under the ICESCR and the African Charter to cover TM. Moreover, in implementing the right to health, the DRC has taken legislation, policies, and programs that regulate and protect TM. In addition to discouraging some bad practices associated with TM, regulation protects people from eventual violation of the right to health by Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs). Furthermore, the protection of medicinal natural resources contributes to the availability and accessibility of TM products. However, like in the colonial period, TM in the DRC continues to be marginalized compared to modern medicine. Therefore, several factors limit access to TM of good quality that is available and accessible. These include, among others, failure for public health facilities to provide TM, lack of provisions covering explicitly TM under the existing social security law, the absence of an adequate control mechanism, and the lack of appropriate criminal sanction regime.