05 Sep 2013

Traditional health practitioners, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), members of the public and representatives from government are expected to converge in Letlhakeng on September 7 to celebrate the International Day of African Traditional Medicine.

Ms Kentse Marope, senior health officer at the Ministry of Health responsible for coordinating traditional health practitioners said they expected the commemorations to draw about 2 000 people from across the country.

“We have invited traditional health practitioners, NGOs and government departments to join in the commemoration of this important day. Stakeholders started arriving on Thursday and there would be a general meeting with all of them before the commemoration on Saturday,” she said. This year’s commemoration would see an exhibition by traditional doctors who will be competing on exhibition of their medicines.

Ms Marope said they would also host a quiz for traditional doctors, meant to test their competence and understanding of health issues. “Marks obtained during the quiz and exhibitions will be totaled to identify the overall winners. The winners will be rewarded with floating trophies and certificates of appreciation,” said Ms Marope.

She said preparations have been going well and expressed confidence that this year’s commemorations will be successful. Traditional health practitioners have in the past been accused of refusing to cooperate with government, given the secretive nature of their operations.

However, Ms Marope said they have managed to get traditional health practitioners to open up and develop trust on government officials through various workshops and engagement forums.

The International Day of African Traditional Medicine was first commemorated in 2003 as an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO).

 It is commemorated in all African countries that are members of the WHO. However, Botswana started commemorating the day in 2005 and since then it has been rotating annually around villages such as Kanye, Mbalambi, Malatswai and Toteng. 

This year’s commemorations were delayed because there was another major event taking place in Letlhakeng on August 31. Ms Marope also said the commemorations will be held over a week from next year, owing to a proposal submitted by the WHO. “WHO has proposed that the commemorations should be held over a week instead of just one day. We urge all stakeholders to prepare for this new development next year,” she said.

The guest speaker for the day will be Bakwena deputy Kgosi Norman Bakwena. The commemorations will start with a health walk in the morning. 

The theme for this year’s commemoration is ‘Traditional Medicine, Research and Development’. ENDS