Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - October 6, 2002
Brett Horner
The objective of the project is to identify safe and effective therapies for the fight against the disease, looking specifically at indigenous plants used in traditional South African medicine.
The initiative is being closely followed by the US National Institute of Health - an agency of the US Department of Health.
Medical scientist Dr Nceba Gqaleni, from the medical school's African Health Care Systems division, confirmed this week that the US institute was studying a proposal by the school for a grant to research the use of traditional medicine in the treatment of HIV/Aids.
Gqaleni said the aim was to develop a traditional system to manage the disease holistically.
"We are not only looking for substitutes for antiretrovirals but also medicines to combat opportunistic infections associated with the disease," said Gqaleni.
He said officials from the US institute, who visited the school in July, were upbeat about the progress made in connection with alternative medicines. Gqaleni said the project also involved resurrecting staple foods, like sorghum, which were highly nutritious and ideal for HIV/Aids patients, but were no longer being cultivated.
Sangomas and inyangas from Mwelela Kweliphesheya, a development arm of KwaZulu-Natal Indigenous Healers, would provide information about the various flora used in traditional muti .
Gqaleni said all ingredients of the flora would have to undergo stringent testing before phase trials could be carried out on HIV-positive patients.
Guidelines for the programme provided by the US institute said "many HIV-infected people of colour utilise complementary and alternative medicines ".
Gqaleni said local research supported this, with studies revealing that most people had visited a traditional healer before consulting a medical doctor.
The deputy chairman of Mwelela Kweliphesheya, inyanga Protus Cele, said the initiative would give traditional healers the recognition they craved.
"We are happy with the news as we are now at the end of the struggle to get recognition for the work that we do. It would be the fruits of our labour," said Cele.
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