Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Health Reporter
27 March 2002
THE newly established Traditional Medical Practitioners Council wants the Witchcraft Suppression Act reviewed to acknowledge the existence of witches and wizards.
As far as the council is concerned, the acknowledgement would clear people who have been charged under the Act for calling "genuine witches" as such.
"We want the Act reviewed to be able to authenticate witches as well. Varoyi variko (Witches do exist). The courts of law should acknowledge this and if it is proved that someone is a witch then the person who labelled him/her should be exonerated," said Dr Peter Sibanda, a member of the council and Zimbabwe Traditional Healers Association secretary general.
Under the Act it is illegal to accuse someone of practising witchcraft and this attracts a fine of not less than $100 000.
He also said the council would also closely monitor witch-hunting ceremonies in a bid to flush out fake healers while protecting genuine ones.
"These things do happen and there are cases where witches end up testifying and surrendering the tools of their trade to the healer but we also want to protect the public from being falsely accused by fake healers. There is a tendency in some families to accuse progressive members of using witchcraft out of petty jealousies," said Dr Sibanda.
He added that the council, set up to oversee the professional functions of traditional healers, would also push the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare to streamline traditional medicine into the health sector for the benefit of patients, especially those with terminal and mental illnesses.
"The council wants to see to it that traditional medicine is available to all that need it. All we want now is to work parallel to conventional doctors and eventually to slowly integrate the two. Studies have proved that traditional healers offer the best home-based care for patients, especially those with mental disorders," said Dr Sibanda.
He said traditional healers were happy that the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare recently pledged to have a full time officer at its head office to co-ordinate the functions of the council after realising that they were an important component of the health delivery system.
Recently, the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa, said the ministry fully appreciated the role of traditional healers hence the setting up of a 12-member board to regulate the functions of healers.
Dr Sibanda said the council would soon be drawing up and documenting a list of essential traditional herbs for various illnesses but Dr Sibanda warned that healers would proceed cautiously and safeguard their intellectual property.
"We will not just disclose some of the information without patents. We have in the past two years been compiling a policy which will ensure that if a healer comes up with a cure, the profits are shared and benefit the healer, the health institution and the community from which the herb was harvested," he said.
The World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa recently approved four documents to raise the profile of traditional medicine in Africa and speed up its recognition and integration into national health systems.
Council, which met once, is already in the process of registering all traditional healers.
Dr Sibanda said another challenge facing the council was to instil discipline among members especially when it comes to charging for services. Some cases reported to Zinatha involved amounts as high as $900 000. People with terminal illnesses especially those living with HIV and Aids were the main victims of the unscrupulous healers. "We were shocked when the courts tried protect the healer who charged the late Cde Chenjerai Hunzvi $300 000. This as far as we are concerned is holding a patient to ransom and not a user-fee," he said.
The council would soon be setting up committees to look at discipline, research, ethical and financial matters.
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