There is an expression often used which says that a prophet is known outside their home first before they are recognised at home. I found this expression coming to mind this week when I heard certain representatives from the FIFA medical conference expressing concern on the performance enhancing abilities of African medicines and their impact on the soccer players in the Soccer World Cup.
I hope that if this institution can actually make a pronouncement on our medicines it will make the general public and especially the department of health, take us Izinyanga a little more seriously when it comes to what we know about medicinal plants. After all at least 90% of pharmaceuticals are manufactured from plants.
My unhappiness with our government is that without an acknowledgement of the value of the knowledge that we have on a formal platform, no-one will take us seriously. In fact we are not taken seriously as healers and medicine people who undergo years of training in the identification and uses of medicinal plants. In addition, we are still unable to give our patients medical certificates when they consult us. (There are a few companies which realise that a western trained doctor is not the only health practitioner that their employees consult).
Because of the huge barriers to entry into the formalised pharmaceutical manufacturing industry (just to get your medicine tested by the MRC requires ihuge nvestments) it is virtually impossible for us as healers to get our medicines on the shelves the same way that other medicines are on the shelf in their pretty packages, bar coded and NAPPI coded. (If you don't know what those things are, you are in the same position as a lot of us who have medicines which work for our patients).
It is easy to accuse us of not wanting our medicines verified or tested, but has anyone ever tried to facilitate this without wanting to own the intellectual property for themselves? Universities conduct tests on the plant matter that we use daily, but no credit is ever given to the original healers who shared this age old wisdom.
Maybe now, someone will listen to what's been said about African medicines for centuries. Maybe now, we will be recognised for the knowledge and wisdom which we have. It is unfortunate but true that if a pronouncement is made by someone other than an African about something African, it receives greater attention. However we get the recognition, its about time something concrete came out of it. Who knew that soccer would be the thing that brings our medicine onto an international stage?
