Traditional medicine was banned under colonial rule, and it became legalized in Namibia after the nation's independence in 1990 (World Health Organization). Also in 1990, the Namibia Eagle Traditional Healer's Association (NETHA) was founded. The goal of the association is to "[to] act as a sole organization for all traditional healers in Namibia and to do all such things as are necessary to foster and encourage improvement by the use of indigenous trees, minerals and other resources with medicinal properties or as conducive to the attainment of that purpose."
Traditional healers can be classified into the following categories: herbalists, faith-herbalists, diviner-herbalists, diviners, faith healers, and traditional birth attendants. The Namibian Parliament passed The Traditional Healer's Bill in 2014 in order to oversee the registration of all traditional healers and to discourage the practice of traditional healing without registration (by making it illegal). These measures were taken in order to decrease fradulent practices that are believed to be scamming individuals who seek traditional healers.
It was difficult to find specific information on what differentiates one category of traditional healing from another, and I have also not been able to find information on how traditional healers are responding to the increasing oversight and institutionalization of their work. Although we will likely not have time to learn about this in class, I hope to learn about how traditional healing is utilized and whether it is sought after in conjunction with Western medicine.
-EM
1. http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Jh2943e/4.30.html#Jh2943e.4.30
2. https://www.newera.com.na/2014/12/19/traditional-medicines-feature-festival/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3062575/
4. http://www.parliament.na/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&download=79:bill-no-2-of-2014&id=58:bills-2014&Itemid=1269p://www.parliament.na/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&download=79:bill-no-2-of-2014&id=58:bills-2014&Itemid=1269
5. http://en.africatime.com/namibie/articles/namibia-mixed-reactions-over-traditional-healers-practice
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