The present and future roles of Traditional Health Practitioners within the formal healthcare sector of South Africa, as guided by the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007)

Conclusion To expect the South African traditional health practitioners to function at present and in future fully within the intentions of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007), executing certain roles as independent health practitioners in the formal healthcare sector, seems to a great extent impossible. Wherever they are successfully placed in the healthcare sector, their positio ns and roles seem to be limited. Furthermore, the traditional healers’ places in the formal healthcare sector were already taken by the allied health professions, by such practitioners as homeopaths, naturopaths and ethno-therapists, etc. Thus they are obliged to compete with the already establi shed nursing practitioners, psychiatrists and psychologists, as well as medical doctors, all established in clearly defined and functioning roles. These work inclinations and reservations further minimize their roles dramatically in the formal healthcare sector. To consider the future of the Tradit ional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007) and its two outcomes, namely the Traditional Health Practitioners Council as well as the traditional health practitioner, there are at present three urgent issues. The prominent question is: can the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007) continu e in its present form or must it be recalled? In its present manifestation the Act and the traditional healers seem to be ineffective and aimless. It is time to consider alternatives to assure the ...
Source: Australasian Medical Journal - AMJ - Category: Journals (General) Source Type: research