Does the traditional healer have a modern medical identity in South Africa?

Background Research supports the view that the South African traditional healer does not hold a modern medical identity, but developed from the traditional African religions and cultural environment as a kind of caregiver. The name healer with a medical connotation arose from early colonists and missionaries misunderstanding the role of a traditional healer in Africa, especially in early South Africa. There is even a misunderstanding today about the African meaning of spiritual healing. As such, the traditional healer is a remnant from a previous, pre-modern time. Traditional healers were forced to the foreground recently in South Africa by the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007). This act makes the traditional healer an exclusive healthcare practitioner with statutory status under the name traditional health practitioner. Such a healer can practice in the formal healthcare sector, including the public hospitals. The Act gives the healer the right to diagnose, treat and make, and prescribe pre-modern health products to his/hers clients unhindered. It is clear that the various resolutions and implementations of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007) intend to bring the South African traditional healer into the practice domain of the South African medical doctor. Aims The study aimed to determine if the traditional healer has a medical identity in modern South Africa. Methods This is an exploratory and descriptive study that makes use of an histo...
Source: Australasian Medical Journal - AMJ - Category: Journals (General) Source Type: research