Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 9/29/2006

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) -

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - SWAZILAND: Drug shortage brings resurgence of folk remedies

1 - SWAZILAND: Drug shortage brings resurgence of folk remedies

MBABANE, 29 September (PLUSNEWS) - The unavailability of pharmaceutical drugs is

forcing Swazis to rely on traditional medicines to alleviate their ailments.

The government, which created the shortages by its failure to issue drug tenders

to companies supplying clinics and hospitals, is publicising traditional and

herbal treatments as a remedy for its negligence.

" The inability of people to purchase even the simplest drugs, like

over-the-counter painkillers, has made us examine the traditional ways, " said

Nellie Dlamini, a health worker in the central commercial town, Manzini.

Unlike neighbouring South Africa, where traditional medicines and pharmaceutical

drugs have become a highly politicised issue, Swaziland's approach to using both

has no political baggage.

Gogo Shongwe, an inyanga or traditional healer who has been prescribing

indigenous roots and garden herbs for two decades, is encouraged by the official

approval of traditional remedies to augment treatments available at clinics and

government hospitals, although she has no objection to " Western " medicine and is

herself dependent on pharmaceutical drugs for a bladder infection.

" There is nothing new about the use of garlic or eucalyptus to treat ailments,

except that they are now written down on the flyers the health motivators are

giving to the people, " she said.

Most of Swaziland's one million people have mainly relied on traditional healers

as primary health providers because of poor public health facilities, but the

drug shortages now mean that there is little other choice.

" This is not about old being better than new, or the opposite. It is about

taking advantage of all resources available to us during the current

emergencies, " said Dr Kunene, a former principal secretary of the health

ministry.

According to UNAIDS, 33 percent of the sexually active adult population is

infected with HIV/AIDS - the world's highest rate - and two-thirds of its

people, ruled by sub-Saharan Africa's last executive monarch, live on US$2 or

less per day.

Poverty and a limited but growing distribution of free anti-AIDS medicines have

reduced the demand for commercial drugs, but the use of traditional remedies is

also encouraged in treating HIV/AIDS-related disorders.

To combat anemia, one of the conditions suffered by HIV-positive people, the

health ministry is distributing flyers that prescribe an iron-rich diet

featuring the widely available indigenous spinach called 'umbhidvo'. The endemic

plant, which government recommends should be fortified with groundnuts, grows as

easily in vacant city lots as in rural areas and is a fixture in many Swazi

gardens.

Ginger, another widely cultivated plant, is being touted as a nausea cure for

HIV-positive people, with the recommendation that the root be crushed and boiled

in water. Other treatments for the same ailment are lemon juice in hot water, or

herbal tea brewed from local herbs.

The silver lining to the drug crisis is greater openness between western and

traditional practices. " There is a new reciprocal relationship, brought on by

the AIDS crisis to be sure, but a good thing that brings both worlds of medicine

together, " said Dlamini.

Shongwe agrees: " Since time immemorial, we traditional healers have told our

patients who suffer from thrush that they must eat fermented milk ['emasi'],

with some herbs to make the nourishment more potent. It is well that the Western

doctors are now saying this. "

The government flyer, 'Medicinal Herbs', which Shongwe showed IRIN, affirms

traditional remedies and prescribes garlic as " an antibacterial and expectorant,

and to treat hypertension, arteriosclerosis, dysentery, common cold, typhoid and

bronchial catarrh. "

" We use garlic for this, and also as a way to chase stomach worms away; we use

it to treat fevers and blood disorders, asthma, arthritis and rheumatism, " she

said.

Traditional healers have also used aloe to treat stomach worms. The white juice

of the spiky plant, which grows abundantly in Swaziland, is drunk to improve

digestion. The health ministry suggests it as a medication for AIDS patients, as

well as dandelion and mint, brewed as a tea or chewed.

" Have you ever had a headache that won't go away? Mint mixed with almond oil and

rubbed on your temples brings relief, " Shongwe said.

These home remedies, once well known by Swazis, have been forgotten as a result

of urbanisation and the loss of a middle generation to the AIDS pandemic,

leaving young children in the care of grandparents who may be too frail to take

their grandchildren to the forests for tutorials on natural remedies.

jh/go/he/oa

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agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

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Subscriber: AIDS treatments

[Guest guest]

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) -

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - SWAZILAND: Drug shortage brings resurgence of folk remedies

1 - SWAZILAND: Drug shortage brings resurgence of folk remedies

MBABANE, 29 September (PLUSNEWS) - The unavailability of pharmaceutical drugs is

forcing Swazis to rely on traditional medicines to alleviate their ailments.

The government, which created the shortages by its failure to issue drug tenders

to companies supplying clinics and hospitals, is publicising traditional and

herbal treatments as a remedy for its negligence.

" The inability of people to purchase even the simplest drugs, like

over-the-counter painkillers, has made us examine the traditional ways, " said

Nellie Dlamini, a health worker in the central commercial town, Manzini.

Unlike neighbouring South Africa, where traditional medicines and pharmaceutical

drugs have become a highly politicised issue, Swaziland's approach to using both

has no political baggage.

Gogo Shongwe, an inyanga or traditional healer who has been prescribing

indigenous roots and garden herbs for two decades, is encouraged by the official

approval of traditional remedies to augment treatments available at clinics and

government hospitals, although she has no objection to " Western " medicine and is

herself dependent on pharmaceutical drugs for a bladder infection.

" There is nothing new about the use of garlic or eucalyptus to treat ailments,

except that they are now written down on the flyers the health motivators are

giving to the people, " she said.

Most of Swaziland's one million people have mainly relied on traditional healers

as primary health providers because of poor public health facilities, but the

drug shortages now mean that there is little other choice.

" This is not about old being better than new, or the opposite. It is about

taking advantage of all resources available to us during the current

emergencies, " said Dr Kunene, a former principal secretary of the health

ministry.

According to UNAIDS, 33 percent of the sexually active adult population is

infected with HIV/AIDS - the world's highest rate - and two-thirds of its

people, ruled by sub-Saharan Africa's last executive monarch, live on US$2 or

less per day.

Poverty and a limited but growing distribution of free anti-AIDS medicines have

reduced the demand for commercial drugs, but the use of traditional remedies is

also encouraged in treating HIV/AIDS-related disorders.

To combat anemia, one of the conditions suffered by HIV-positive people, the

health ministry is distributing flyers that prescribe an iron-rich diet

featuring the widely available indigenous spinach called 'umbhidvo'. The endemic

plant, which government recommends should be fortified with groundnuts, grows as

easily in vacant city lots as in rural areas and is a fixture in many Swazi

gardens.

Ginger, another widely cultivated plant, is being touted as a nausea cure for

HIV-positive people, with the recommendation that the root be crushed and boiled

in water. Other treatments for the same ailment are lemon juice in hot water, or

herbal tea brewed from local herbs.

The silver lining to the drug crisis is greater openness between western and

traditional practices. " There is a new reciprocal relationship, brought on by

the AIDS crisis to be sure, but a good thing that brings both worlds of medicine

together, " said Dlamini.

Shongwe agrees: " Since time immemorial, we traditional healers have told our

patients who suffer from thrush that they must eat fermented milk ['emasi'],

with some herbs to make the nourishment more potent. It is well that the Western

doctors are now saying this. "

The government flyer, 'Medicinal Herbs', which Shongwe showed IRIN, affirms

traditional remedies and prescribes garlic as " an antibacterial and expectorant,

and to treat hypertension, arteriosclerosis, dysentery, common cold, typhoid and

bronchial catarrh. "

" We use garlic for this, and also as a way to chase stomach worms away; we use

it to treat fevers and blood disorders, asthma, arthritis and rheumatism, " she

said.

Traditional healers have also used aloe to treat stomach worms. The white juice

of the spiky plant, which grows abundantly in Swaziland, is drunk to improve

digestion. The health ministry suggests it as a medication for AIDS patients, as

well as dandelion and mint, brewed as a tea or chewed.

" Have you ever had a headache that won't go away? Mint mixed with almond oil and

rubbed on your temples brings relief, " Shongwe said.

These home remedies, once well known by Swazis, have been forgotten as a result

of urbanisation and the loss of a middle generation to the AIDS pandemic,

leaving young children in the care of grandparents who may be too frail to take

their grandchildren to the forests for tutorials on natural remedies.

jh/go/he/oa

[ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at

Mail@....

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark,

ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and

the United States of America. For more information, go to:

http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information

service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its

agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Affairs.]

PLUSNEWS

Tel: +27 11 895-1900

Fax: +27 11 784-6759

Email: Mail@...

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:

http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions

Subscriber: AIDS treatments