Efforts to integrate traditional medicine into Kenya’s mainstream health system are set to receive a major boost.
This follows an ongoing collaboration between the University of Nairobi (UoN) and the National Traditional Health Practitioners Association (NATHEPA).
The partnership between UoN and NATHEPA began at the end of 2021. It has already seen at least 50 traditional medical practitioners from across the country take through the program.
There are 2,000 registered herbal doctors in Kenya, all of whom NATHEPA hopes will be taken through the training.
“We said we must be prepared to get into the system which is by improving the professional development of herbalists,” notes Dr (Rev) Mugambi, the NATHEPA national secretary general.
Under the five-day program, the traditional medical practitioners are taken through a number of courses among them elementary anatomy, physiology and biochemistry as well as basic biotechnology information.
The idea behind this initiative is to help herbalists know how to prepare their medicine through good manufacturing practices to ensure it meets local, regional and international standards.
“The most important thing in this area is efficacy, safety, and quality assurance of the medicine they will be manufacturing,” noted Rev (Dr) Mugabi, a lecturer at Kenyatta University who has also been an herbalist for over 30 years.
Uasin Gishu sponsors traditional medical practitioners for the UoN course
So far, four traditional medical practitioners from Uasin Gishu are among those who have been taken through the program.
The fifth practitioner, Jamal Diriwo Omar Mungatana is set to benefit from the initiative later this year – all courtesy of the support from the County Government of Uasin Gishu.
Diriwo runs Tana River Arabic Herbal Clinic in Eldoret town. He has been a traditional medical practitioner for over 20 years now.
“This offers a good opportunity for the new partnership that will enable us to align our work with the modern world and ensure we formally become part of the health system,” says the herbal doctor.
“We have huge knowledge in herbal medicine and we hope this program will help address the myths around herbal medicine amongst our people,” he adds.
NATHEPA has been encouraging devolved units to support traditional medical practitioners to be taken through the training.
Mungatana has also challenged other traditional medical practitioners to take advantage of the program and be enrolled – for their own benefit.
The second phase of the training is scheduled for early December this year.
Integration of modern and traditional medicine
Meanwhile, the herbal doctors have called on the government to put in place structures that will ensure seamless integration of modern and traditional medicine.
Rev (Dr) Mugambi argues that the starting point would be to create a council that will be mandated to regulate traditional medicine and its practitioners.
“MPs need to amend existing laws and put friendly clauses that will safeguard traditional medicine,” noted the National Traditional Health Practitioners Association SG.
“We also ask the Ministry of Health to ensure there is a good relationship between herbalists and the mainstream doctors,” added Mungatana.
Although herbal medical products are still widely used in Kenya, many of the medicinal plants used by traditional medical practitioners have not been documented.
