Ancient Remedies, New Disease: Involving Traditional Healers in Increasing Access to AIDS Care and Prevention in East Africa (UNAIDS best practice collection)

Best practices from the traditional sector were identified in three countries of East Africa: Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Uganda. Three specific programmes exhibited an enormous capacity for care and influence on the part of traditional healers, and for creating a wider and more comprehensive response, as well as for embracing traditional healers as part of the solution to HIV/AIDS in the African context. Contents......Page 5 Acknowledgements......Page 6 Foreword......Page 7 I. Introduction......Page 8 II. Traditional medicine and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa—history and terminology......Page 9 AIDS in Kenya......Page 11 Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK): objectives and activities......Page 12 Lessons learned from WOFAK......Page 17 Summary analysis of WOFAK......Page 18 WOFAK’s specific criteria/approach for traditional medicine/biomedicine collaboration......Page 19 Tanga AIDS Working Group (TAWG): objectives and activities......Page 20 Lessons learned from TAWG......Page 29 Summary analysis of TAWG......Page 30 TAWG’s specific criteria/approach for traditional medicine/ biomedicine collaboration......Page 31 AIDS in Uganda......Page 32 Traditional and Modern Health Practitioners together against AIDS (THETA): objectives and activities......Page 33 Lessons learned from THETA......Page 48 Summary analysis of THETA......Page 49 THETA’s specific criteria/approach for traditional medicine/ biomedicine collaboration......Page 50 VI . Conclusions and a call for action......Page 51 VII. References and further reading......Page 52