THPS
TRADITIONAL
HEALERS Traditional healthcare practices are largely informal and unregulated, despite the fact that approximately 80% of South Africans consulting the more than 200 000 traditional healers in the country who are mostly based in rural areas.
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raditional medicine is used for primary healthcare needs because it is more accessible and affordable. This raises questions around accessibility and the patient’s safety, not to talk about the accountability of healers. Although the Traditional Health Practitioners Act was promulgated in 2007 to recognise this practise, many healers still work from home where there is little privacy for patients or their loved ones who are exposed to sick people. They can treat up to twenty people a day, while operating with little guidelines and while poorly regulated.
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They want to be included in the development to treat Covid-19 patients; to identify symptoms and also to keep themselves and their clients safe.
So how have traditional healers cope with Covid-19 up till now? Traditional healers, in the last year, were forced to adapt, cope with losing work and learn how to perform rituals online (Mail & Guardian, 2021) Some of these healers had to move their place of work outdoors so that social distancing could be kept. Others now work in their gardens, saying that
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being so close to nature has brought a different dimension to their spiritual consultations. They may continue like this going forward. Like many other businesses they had to close their practices during lockdown, which brought about a loss of income and interaction with their patients. The Traditional Healers’ Organisation says the pandemic hit their members hard. Wearing a mask and sanitise may not sound like a big problem to most people, but some rural places don’t have enough water to drink and cook, let alone wash their hands. It was difficult to acquire herbs for
