adminTanaka Mahanya
HEALTH and Child Care Deputy Minister, John Mangwiro, has urged traditional healers to register so that the Government follows up on their practices.
Speaking at a Traditional Medical Practitioners’ Council (TMPC) stakeholders consultative meeting, he said the law stipulates that all traditional healers must be registered.
“We are referring to people who are not in formal or mainline medicine, including pastors, apostles, evangelists, spirit mediums, dreamers and herbalists.
“They must all be licenced.
“This helps the government follow up on their practices to ensure that patients are not endangered.
“We also require that every traditional healer must have a hypertension-checking gadget, thermometer and ways of checking sugar,” he said.
Dr Mangwiro encouraged them to concede, when they are not sure about treatment, and direct patients to other institutions.
“There will be training sessions in polytechnic colleges, where they will be taught to treat patients safely.
“Once traditional doctors are well trained, this will assist us in establishing traditional treatment hospitals which will be registered and well-monitored by the Government.
“They claim that they are treating people, so we want to be sure the patients are safe.
“As a group of traditional healers, they should also be respectful to each other because there is a bit of animosity with certain people thinking they are superior to others,” he said.
He said herbalists should ensure that their medicines do not cause liver, kidney or heart damage.
Online Reporter