Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) December 6, 2005
Richard Otim, in Kumi
"Our healers have the wisdom for better and effective medicine but I warn those who claim they have the medicine to cure AIDS," Mukula said.
Speaking on Saturday at the commissioning of 50 traditional healers at the community hall in Kumi town, Mukula said 1.1 million children, twice the population of Kumi district, had died of AIDS in Uganda.
"We should not be joking about HIV/AIDS issues. Forty million people in the world with 70% of this in Africa, are suffering from AIDS. This is not a simple thing," Mukula said.
The healers, sponsored by the US-based Rockefeller Foundation, received training in effective health control and counselling skills.
He asked the healers, now working under the Traditional Healers and Modern Practitioners Together against AIDS (THETA), to share their experiences with the formal health institutions by sending cases that they cannot handle to such institutions.
He urged the traditional medicine practitioners to collaborate with the ministry of health for more training opportunities and capacity building.
"You now must be part of the health service delivery and herbalists should also be appointed members of hospital boards of governors," Mukula said.
He warned against human sacrifice by some traditional healers as an ancient practice that blemished their good work.
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