Given the Egyptian history of medicine in the world, it seems a quagmire that relative new-comers to the medical field would have the audacity to present traditional medicine as primitive.
However, it is a fact that during colonial rule traditional healers were viewed as pagan superstitious heathens using unscientific methods....and, in an effort of control went so far as to send diviners and healers to camps to be “re-educated” as well as declaring the sale of herbal medicines illegal.
In addition, despite their ability to tend to the basic health needs of the people, traditional healers were largely ignored and/or attempts were made to discredit them, since Healers are more likely to call on the supernatural realm in times of conflict and war.
The hypocrisy is even more evident when it is understood that today the herbal trade market in Durban alone is said to attract between 700,000 and 900,000 traders a year.
Another example is the 2,000 metric tons in Cameroon and another 600 tons from Madagascar of pygeum (to name just one herb) harvested each year, an ancient treatment for an enlarged prostate and sent to Europe since the 1970's!
, although the active component in many cases is now produced synthetically.
It is easy to understand African cynicism and suspicion towards western medicine philosophy when one understands the history of colonialism.
Couple this with the multitude of western doctors who have intentionally (and factually) caused harm—and gone unpunished-- to countless African families.
To name a few; the Bulgarian doctors who intentionally infected 100's of Libyan children with H.I.V, Werner Bezwoda who conducted experiments using very high doses of chemotherapy on unsuspecting South African breast cancer patients, Richard McGown who in Zimbabwe killed at least 7 infant patients with lethal doses of morphine, “Dr.” Michael Swango who is suspected of causing the deaths of over 60 Africans with lethal doses of potassium and finally Wouter Basson, a former head of Project Coast (South Africa's chemical and biological weapons unit under Apartheid) who was charged with killing hundreds of Africans via injected poisons but was never convicted.
It should also be noted, that during the trial of Basson, at which his lieutenants testified to the medical crimes conducted against African people, it was also reported that one of their chief goals was to find ways to selectively and secretly sterilize Africans.
There appears a clash in methodology and world-view when studying the differences between traditional African healing vs. Western methods (meta-physical vs. crisis intervention).
Well educated traditional healers are the preferred option for African patients because of their shared belief systems, and because they offer personalized information, counseling and treatment based on an understanding of their environment.
Yet even today, medical apartheid rears its head as traditional healers are rarely included in key decision making, action agendas and community program discussions held by colonizers.
Not only is this behavior arrogant, but the continued failure to engage manifests the image of the west as aggressive and perpetuates the view that the goal of colonialism is to erase indigenous peoples thoughts and perceptions of their own culture.
Surely the west has many useful medical advancements that Africans can learn from, but their current overpowering role makes reciprocity nearly impossible.
Traditional healers have a crucial role to play in the continued growth of the health system on the Continent, the only acceptable solution to this conundrum is African agency.
Traditional Healer http://www.traditional-healer.net
Love spells http://www.traditional-healer.net/love-spells.html
Voodoo healer http://www.traditional-healer.net/voodoo-healer-spells.html
Money spells http://www.traditional-healer.net/money-spells.html
Thwasa training http://www.traditional-healer.net/thwasa-training.html
Fertility spells http://www.traditional-healer.net/fertility-spells.html
Magic rings http://www.traditional-healer.net/magic-rings.html
Ancestral spirits http://www.traditional-healer.net/ancestral-spirits.html
White Sangomas http://www.traditional-healer.net/white-sangomas.html
Spiritual healer http://www.traditional-healer.net
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