"Unintended consequences of regulating traditional medicine"
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Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) has the noble goals of advancing traditionalmedicine and simultaneously promoting the regulation and professionalization oftraditional healers. However, such regulation has the unintended consequence ofwithholding power from traditional practitioners. This review explores this conceptthrough a historical analysis of traditional medicine in both India and Zimbabwe.During the post-colonial period in both countries, traditional medicine contributed tothe creation of national identity. In the process of nationalizing traditional medicine,regulations were set in place that led to a rise in the university-style teaching oftraditional healing. This period of professionalization of traditional healers resultedin certain types of traditional medicine being marginalized, as they were neitherincluded in regulation nor taught at university. Since then, the current era ofglobalization has commoditized traditional healing. Private industries like ZEPL andDabur have rapidly and vastly altered the role of traditional healers. Consumers cannow buy traditional medication directly from companies without visiting a healer.Additionally, disputes over patents and other intellectual property rights have ledto important questions regarding ownership of certain plants traditionally knownfor healing properties. Through regulation and commercialization of traditionalmedicine, healers have lost some of their independence to practise.Citation
Sonya Davey. (2013). "Unintended consequences of regulating traditional medicine". WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health, 2 (3-4), 131 - 134. World Health Organization. Regional Office for South-East Asia. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/329788
Journal
WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health, 2 (3-4): 131 - 134ISSN
2224-3151 (Print)2304-5272 (Electronic)