Traditional healers and their role in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Johannesburg , Jeppestown

[摘要] ABSTRACTThe Ministry of Health in South Africa has launched massive campaigns to try andprevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, South Africa still has more peopleinfected with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world. This has led togovernment and health care planners re-evaluating neglected traditional healthsystems as potential contributors to health care delivery. This report highlights someareas where traditional healers can play a role in the prevention of HIV/AIDS as toldby traditional healers themselves. In discussing these roles, the report raises the needfor supportive government policy. Up to now government policies on HIV/AIDS haverelied largely on biomedical explanations of illness and ignored other popularexplanations. This poses a serious problem in a country like South Africa, where alarge proportion of the population consults traditional healers first before consultingthe medical sector. Such policies also impact on collaborative measures between thetwo sectors. Thus far, almost all prevention programmes are run by clinics with verylittle interaction with other sectors. The report then goes on to discuss the perceptionson HIV/AIDS as discussed by traditional healers. In so doing, the report begins totouch on the role of traditional practices that relates to sexual behaviour in HIV/AIDSprevention. As custodians of traditional culture, traditional healers have a huge role toplay in re-inventing such practices in a manner that raises awareness about HIV/AIDSand at the same time preventing the spread of the disease.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand