HIT, UNESWA collaborate on traditional medicine for healthcare improvement

Remember Deketeke Herald Correspondent

Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) and the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) have turned to the application of traditional knowledge to create and produce treatments to manage any illness in an effort to improve their healthcare systems.

Yesterday, the UNESWA, HIT, Southern African Network for Biosciences (SANBio) and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) held a stakeholder engagement meeting under the theme “African traditional medicine and the development agenda in the SADC region.”

The purpose of the HIT and UNESWA SADC-SIPS project is to manage HIV and AIDS by creating safe, effective, and high-quality treatments based on traditional medicines and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS).

CEO and Registrar of the National Biotechnology Authority Mr Dr Dexter Savadye said since its birth, SANbio has made great strides within Zimbabwean Institutions.

“To date, SANBio has implemented more than 10 projects at different institutions in Zimbabwe including UZ, CUT, NUST and AIBST, among others,” he said.

Head of Cooperations of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Zimbabwe Mr Franck Porte said the principles of the SIPS are similar to those of the EU’s developmental policies.
“Those principles mirror those of the EU’s comprehensive development policies, centred on poverty reduction, sustainable development, and promoting economic growth and employment,” he said.

Representing the Vice Chancellor of HIT, Dr Talon Garikai said this project is in line with Vision 2030.

“This project is also of national significance. It demonstrates the Second Republic’s unequivocal undertaking and guarantees to deliver a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income society by 2028, through the twin pillars of industrialisation and modernisation.