African health practitioners enter rights discussion

On African Traditional Medicine Day, regional director Luis Sambo urged a stronger role for traditional health practitioners in preventing HIV.

The WHO regional message treated trusted community practitioners as possible partners in prevention communication.

The 2005 call recognized that many people visit traditional practitioners as well as clinics.

WHO’s call concerned prevention and the role of practitioners, not evidence that a traditional remedy cures HIV.

More than 60 experts began a four-day meeting on protection of African traditional medical knowledge.

The meeting examined a draft framework on intellectual property rights and African traditional medical knowledge.

Participants discussed who should receive benefits from uses of African traditional knowledge and medicinal biodiversity.

WHO reports that the four-day workshop ended Friday with guidelines for protection and promotion of African Indigenous medical knowledge.

Participants recommended model legislation that countries could adapt to protect locally held medical knowledge.

The consensus document considered legal recognition and the protection of African medicinal biodiversity.