Abstract
African traditional health practitioners are an important source of health care for many South Africans. Thus, they are a health resource in this society. However, the integration of traditional health practitioners into the mainstream of health care is a complex process. Various factors contribute to this complexity, including the skepticism and reservation with which some western health practitioners view traditional health practitioners. This paper highlights the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the traditional healing system for people living with HIV/AIDS, as perceived by western health practitioners. The use of traditional practitioners as a choice of health care is attributed to both the strengths and weaknesses of this system of health care. The strength of the traditional healing system is in its sharing of the worldview and belief system of its users, it being an alternative to an inefficient western health care system (official system), privacy and absence of time limitations per consultation, treating patients psychologically, and scientifically unexplained physiological relief of the symptoms of specific illnesses. The perceived weaknesses of the traditional healing system include harmful treatment regimens, especially for people living with HIV/AIDS; prolonging the seeking of appropriate health care when traditional remedies fail to produce the desired effect; destroying interpersonal relationships of people living with HIV/AIDS through witchcraft accusations; psychological torment caused by the belief that HIV/AIDS can be cured by traditional remedies/intervention; and increasing the workload of western practitioners who are requested by patients to conduct multiple HIV tests after undergoing various traditional treatment regimens to cure HIV/AIDS. It is recommended that traditional practitioners be encouraged to adapt harmful traditional healing practices to the benefit of their patients in a non-judgemental and non-critical manner. In addition, joint workshops should be conducted with traditional and western practitioners to demystify traditional healing practices.
Highlights
Background and introductionIn societies w hich contain both traditional and western health care systems, the western health care system is, more often than not, the official and perceived superior of the two systems
F urtherm ore, the operational plan acknow ledges the im portance of the role played by traditional health practitioners in treating and caring for people living with HIV/ AIDS (PW As), esp ecially in the expanding of the official HIV/AIDS care and treatment programme throughout the country
17 Curationis August 2006 practitioners from the realm of health care in general, and priority programmes such as HIV/AIDS. It is to this end that this paper explores the views of western health practitioners pertaining to the benevolent and malevolent functions of traditional practitioners as health care providers, with specific reference to HIV/ AIDS treatment and care
Summary
In societies w hich contain both traditional and western health care systems, the western health care system is, more often than not, the official and perceived superior of the two systems. Attributing the cause of illness to witchcraft only serves the purpose of aggravating the emotional and psychological repercussions of HIV/ AIDS, by straining relations between the person living with HIV/AIDS and his/her relatives, friends, neighbours and colleagues, who are usually implicated in the process of identifying the cause of illness This adverse effect of traditional healing is best described by the following statement: “Instead o fpeople supporting each other, they end up looking at each other suspiciously, because they believe that some people bewitch others ”. Care should be taken to avoid prescribing western practices as the superior and more effective form of treating people living with HIV/AIDS This approach will merely deter traditional practitioners from taking cognisance of any useful information that will benefit their patients
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