As far back as one can trace, the Western world has been preoccupied with the concept of the African "Medicine man" and his "primitive" methods of healing.

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As far back as one can trace, the Western world has been preoccupied with the concept of the African “Medicine man” and his “primitive” methods of healing.  Fascinated by their alien systems of healing and treatment, Westerners soon viewed the unfamiliar practitioners as “sorcerers” who were accused of furthering “the recurring, instinctive struggles of the old powers of wickedness and darkness to put out the lights which [had] been lit in Africa” (Rekdal, 1999: 3).  As the shadow of Western medicine slowly crept over the lands of Africa, these traditional healers were dismissed, shunned, and eventually banned in parts of Africa, pushing them further out of the public eye and further into the realm of magic and taboo.

Recently, however, as countries like South Africa begin to take more responsibility for the failing health of their citizens, traditional healers are once again becoming a topic of public interest, this time because of their close ties with rural communities.  Instead of being viewed as a detriment, these healers are now seen as an asset to the country, its health care systems, and most importantly the African people themselves.  In 1997, the South African Ministry of Health stated its vow to amalgamate, “the activities of the public and private health sectors, including NGOs and traditional healers, in a way which maximizes the effectiveness and efficiency of all available health resources,” available to all South Africans.  One factor of this proposal is the possibility of incorporating traditional healers into national health policy- an option that is not only negligent, impractical, and opportunistic on the part of the government, but a direct threat to the institution of traditional healers and the communities that rely on them.

Husbanded with the Western fascination with the exotic and unfamiliar is the fixation on it’s colonization; religions, economies, daily lives have systematically “Westernized” over the years, often leaving those affected feeling confused, betrayed, and removed from their roots.  Incorporation of traditional healers into the national health programme is merely a modern day manifestation of these desires on many levels.

First of all, one of the main stated criteria of registration of a traditional healer with the government is the acceptance that they will no longer perform practices that the governing body has deemed “banned”.  While few people will argue the fact that many healing practices enlisted by traditional healers are very different than those of modern medicine, even fewer can legitimately judge which are worthy banning.  Given that a majority of diagnoses made by traditional healers involve spiritual beings, religious beliefs, and intangible entities, their methods and prescriptions can hardly be aptly judged by an outsider with little no concept of effects (physical, psychological, and spiritual) treatments have on patients.  Without taking countless histories and ideologies into account, the banning of these practices would result in little more than a watering down of traditional medicine to a weak replicate of modern medicine.

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Even more important are the ethical questions of trust involved in such incorporation.  The first of these trusts being that between the healer and the patient.  If traditional healers were indeed trained in the ways of Western, modern medicine and sent back into their communities, there may be a sense of betrayal; suddenly the patient would have no choice but to prescribe to modern medicine.  Even if the healer retains most of their previous practices, the integration of new Western ideas may be confusing to both the patient and the healer.  Furthermore, these ideas may clash with long-held beliefs about ...

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