Perspective Chapter: Integrating Traditional Healers into the National Health Care System – A Review and Reflection

Abstract

This paper reviews and reflects on the policy efforts to integrate traditional healers in Nepal. Most people in rural Nepal rely on traditional healers for their primary health care needs, not only because health facilities in rural areas are poorly functioning but also because these healers meet various health care needs. The kind of traditional medicine provided by traditional healers (such as herbalists, bone setters, faith healers, and traditional midwives) is much more accessible to them than the practitioners of biomedicine and scholarly traditional medicine (such as Ayurveda, Unani, and Homeopathy). However, traditional healers have not been recognized as legitimate practitioners. Policy initiatives are needed to facilitate recognition, accreditation, or licensing of traditional healers so that they can be integrated into the formal structure of the health care system. Nepal’s recent initiative of registration of traditional healers is an important policy effort in this direction.

Medicinal plant use and integration of traditional healers into health care system: A case study at Ankasa Forest Reserve and catchment communities in Ghana

“…Findings from this study showed that contrary to earlier studies (Subedi 2023, Ampomah et al 2022, traditional medicine practitioners (TMP) and biomedical health workers are generally willing to cooperate in the delivery of health care to the local community members (Solera-Deucher et al 2020, Krah et al 2018. There existed a certain level of formalization and standardization as some members of the Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (GHAFTRAM) had identification cards and even referral cards in some few instances allowing them to transfer patients to the biomedical health centers.…”

An exploratory study on becoming a traditional spiritual healer among Baganda in Central Uganda

“…Likewise, Articles 24 and 31 encourage them to maintain, control, protect and develop their traditional medicine, health practices and cultural expressions (8). This is supported by recommendations that trained and categorised healers with recognised competencies should be identified, profiled, registered, monitored and evaluated and get certified by accredited institution that understand, contextualize, appreciate, and recognise them and their practices (14,15). More authors argue that this would assist to harmonise, streamline, regulate and promote informal skills development, qualifications, and accreditation of their practices, therapies, and services (16)(17)(18)(19).…”

“…They are challenged by lack of legal status, which aspect sustains their experience of unfavourable direct and indirect foreign rule (44). Therefore, training and practice engaging ancestral spirits during health management is vulnerable to widespread charlatanism, misinformation, ambiguity (13,45), and no official levels of utilization of traditional spiritual healers in health care (15). It is, therefore, a national challenge and priority to understand and regulate training of traditional spiritual healers, their practices and premises (43) so as to inform policy (23).…”

An exploratory study on becoming a traditional spiritual healer among Baganda in Central Uganda

“…Likewise, Articles 24 and 31 encourage them to maintain, control, protect and develop their traditional medicine, health practices and cultural expressions [ 8 ]. This is supported by recommendations that trained and categorised healers with recognised competencies should be identified, profiled, registered, monitored and evaluated and get certified by accredited institution that understand, contextualize, appreciate, and recognise them and their practices [ 14 , 15 ]. More authors argue that this would assist to harmonise, streamline, regulate and promote informal skills development, qualifications, and accreditation of their practices, therapies, and services [ 16 – 19 ].…”

“…They are challenged by lack of legal status, which aspect sustains their experience of unfavourable direct and indirect foreign rule [ 39 ]. Therefore, training and practice engaging ancestral spirits during health management is vulnerable to widespread charlatanism, misinformation, ambiguity [ 13 , 40 ], and no official levels of utilization of traditional spiritual healers in health care [ 15 ]. It is, therefore, a national challenge and priority to understand and regulate training of traditional spiritual healers, their practices and premises [ 38 ] so as to inform policy [ 23 ].…”