The absence of proper regulation of Rwanda’s mushrooming traditional healers has sparked fears among the public, as practitioners’ credibility and drug safety remain in question.

Consumer rights defenders are calling for a clear legal framework specifying who should practise traditional medicine in Rwanda to ensure protection of the public from potential malpractices.

This comes as the number of people claiming to provide cures for all sorts of sicknesses — from the ordinary to the world’s most deadly diseases — continues to rise, with unsuspecting members of the public turning to them rather than to conventional health facilities.

“The consumers have become confused; we don’t know who is capable of treating and who is not. Many are abandoning modern health services for the traditional healers after they are lured by the false and exaggerated advertisements in the mainstream media,” said Damien Ndizeye, Executive Secretary of Adecor, a local consumer rights protection body.

“We want Rura (the national utility regulatory body) to ban advertising of traditional healing services in the media; and the Ministry of Health to register these people so that the public knows who among them and which medicines are genuine,” he said.

It is not yet clear how many traditional healers the country has so far since there is no agency in charge of their registration.

Rwanda Todayhas established that the practitioners undergo no licensing process as many seek no authority’s approval prior to starting work.

As a result, an unknown number of traditional healers is operating in homes while thousands others are grouped in over 30 associations scattered countrywide.

'Masqueraders'

To this, add a number of foreigners namely Maasai from Tanzania and Kenya, and healers from Uganda and DR Congo who have found the business lucrative in Rwanda.

“About two thirds of the traditional healers operating today are masqueraders, and this is undermining the credibility of those of us who are able,” said Daniel Gafaranga, head of AGA Network, an associations bringing together over 14,000 local traditional healers.

“They make mistakes in the way they grow, harvest and process medicinal plants, and this has negative effects on the patients they treat.”

Information obtained from the local traditional medicine practitioners indicates that the sector has got faith healers, herbalists alongside alleged witchcraft or a combination of both, and others.

This is in addition to a sharp increase in complementary and alternative medicine namely the much-publicised reflexology, a therapeutic method done by applying pressure on specific body areas namely the feet and hands.

Another section of traditional healers is involved in the production of traditional medicines for sale to the public without quality checks, raising public safety concerns.

“Many are opportunistic healers claiming to have remedy for all the diseases. I hear some of them claiming to remove bad luck, give cure for wealth and boosting business performance and others,” said Aimable Abdou Tuyisenge, a veteran herbalist in Kigali.

Tuyisenge told Rwanda Today that such issues were raised many times in consultation meetings with the Ministry of Health officials last year but no action has been taken.

Regulation

According to Adecor, lack of clear orientation of the developing traditional medicine and safety standards of medicines is proving to be a serious public health issue.

The consumer body concerns are shared by Rwanda’s league of physiotherapists, which has for several times raised a red flag over the same, alleging a lot of malpractices in the emerging reflexology.

Dr Jean Damascene Gasherebuka, a physiotherapist at King Faisal Hospital, who heads the association decried an increase in cases of patients who come to seek medical care while hugely damaged by the traditional medicine.

“We need a regulation instrument that checks these people, clearly indicating if they have required training to do the work they do, and their scope of practice,” he said.

Dr Gasherebuka also expressed worries about the potential effects of the machines and imported innovations used by the practitioners.

The Ministry of Health spokesperson Nathan Mugume told Rwanda Today that it only puts forward the notion that residents should seek medical care from nearby health facilities rather than go to the traditional medicine.

“We encourage people to go to health facilities, nearby health posts, hospitals and community health workers, and take medicine as prescribed. That’s our stand,” Mr Mugume said, adding that the country has enough skilled people to handle all types of illnesses.

Rwanda Today has established that the only regulatory measure in place for traditional medicine requires practitioners to seek approval from local authorities who, prior to approving, have to trace the applicant’s family background to ensure they inherited the required skills.

Nonetheless, practitioners and consumer rights defenders decry lack of enforcement.