ABSTRACT
The Ministry of Health in South Africa has launched massive campaigns to try and
prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, South Africa still has more people
infected with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world. This has led to
government and health care planners re-evaluating neglected traditional health
systems as potential contributors to health care delivery. This report highlights some
areas where traditional healers can play a role in the prevention of HIV/AIDS as told
by traditional healers themselves. In discussing these roles, the report raises the need
for supportive government policy. Up to now government policies on HIV/AIDS have
relied largely on biomedical explanations of illness and ignored other popular
explanations. This poses a serious problem in a country like South Africa, where a
large proportion of the population consults traditional healers first before consulting
the medical sector. Such policies also impact on collaborative measures between the
two sectors. Thus far, almost all prevention programmes are run by clinics with very
little interaction with other sectors. The report then goes on to discuss the perceptions
on HIV/AIDS as discussed by traditional healers. In so doing, the report begins to
touch on the role of traditional practices that relates to sexual behaviour in HIV/AIDS
prevention. As custodians of traditional culture, traditional healers have a huge role to
play in re-inventing such practices in a manner that raises awareness about HIV/AIDS
and at the same time preventing the spread of the disease.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4548 |
| Date | 06 March 2008 |
| Creators | Ndingi, Sandile |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 24049 bytes, 33035 bytes, 9908 bytes, 14437 bytes, 53109 bytes, 48211 bytes, 85547 bytes, 107357 bytes, 58327 bytes, 10809 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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