Scientifically-proven interventions from traditional medicine have an important role to play in the attainment of universal health coverage if properly harnessed and deployed, Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Constantino Chiwenga said yesterday.
He was officiating at the graduation of the first batch of students of the Zimbabwe traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture personnel training course in Harare.
Coincidentally, the graduation ceremony came on the same day Zimbabwe was joining the rest of the world in commemorating International Universal Health Coverage Day, a day set aside by the United Nations for the world to take stock of progress made in availing quality health services to all without any financial hindrance.
This fits in with the Second Republic’s thrust of improving health delivery to levels needed by an upper middle income economy as set out by President Mnangagwa.
Taking a leaf from the book of leading health delivery jurisdictions like India and China, Zimbabwe is also embracing the use of traditional medical interventions where these are found to be beneficial in some way.
Some people in communities prefer traditional medical treatment.
“Zimbabwe is among several countries that are reforming their health systems with the aim of reaching universal health coverage, which is a key target under the Sustainable Development Goal for health,” said VP Chiwenga.
“As such, the integration of traditional medicine into mainstream healthcare service delivery is one of our priority areas.
“I am glad to share that through close collaboration with advanced traditional Chinese medicine, Zimbabwe has embarked on processes to establish the first edition of the National Herbal Pharmacopoeia as a measure of setting up standards for use by industry, practitioners, and the public at large.
“This will allow our products to penetrate global markets as part of traditional medicine’s global inclusiveness.
“The Government is cognizant that a successful, integrated healthcare system would facilitate more efficient use of domestic healthcare resources and enhance self-sufficiency in the development of Zimbabwe’s healthcare.
“We have witnessed this in some Asian countries such as the People’s Republic of China, Japan, Korea, and India that have fully integrated traditional medicines into national health systems.”
Traditional medicine and modern medicine can co-exist and those who graduated from the traditional course yesterday implored those using traditional methods not to stop using medicines they were already using to control certain conditions.
Dr Tatenda Chimbunde said acupuncture was not a substitute for prescribed medicines, but was mainly used to control pain for patients who were already receiving other treatment, like those recovering from stroke.
This was corroborated by another graduate Dr Tasila Paji who said the traditional route was complementing what was already being used in the country’s health system, and not a substitute of what was scientifically proven. Dr Zhu Wei, one of the tutors for the graduating students, who is also working at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, told the graduating health professionals to discharge their duties with distinction for the benefit of the ordinary citizens.
He said, for example, that acupuncture had provided huge relief to patients with conditions like hypertension and diabetes who were also getting better after several sessions of the treatment. – The Herald
