Traditional medicine: free for all Profession in Cameroon

Though about 80% of the country’s population use traditional medicine for primary Health care the sector is not regularized

The practice of traditional medicine has become a major phenomenon in Cameroon. And the non-regulation of the profession has made it accessible to charlatans who are highly concentrated in big cities like Yaounde, the nation’s capital, Douala, the economic capital including other provincial and divisional capital. Here, they are found in nearly all the
neighborhoods where their numbers increase by day.They preferred these areas because the business is more fruitful than in the villages. In effect the numbers of sign boards guiding people to the homes of these traditional healers are numerous. Meantime Statistics from the country’s ministry of public health hold that about 88% of Cameroonians use traditional medicine for primary health care. However, the quality of treatment received from these healers
remains questionable. Reason being that most of them found in towns are charlatans and quacks.
Nji Thomas is a young traditional practitioner who lives in the Bepanda neighborhood in the country’s economic capital of Douala. At the main entrance to his home, a big sign board welcomes you, indicating the presence of a traditional healer. Amazing on the board is a list of common diseases purportedly to be treated in the traditional clinic. Consequently it is common to fine a queue of people at the clinic daily for treatment. Nji who says he has been in town for
over a decade claims the practice was a gift from his late grand further, a native Doctor with whom he worked since childhood. Hear him, “I only moved to Douala when my grand father died over ten years ago. I end my living from healing people. I preferred to come
here because the business is more fruitful than in the village.”
But Dr Ekeke monono Martin, Director of Health care organization and Health Technology at the ministry of public Health seems uncomfortable with the practice of traditional medicine in the country.
To him the problem is that traditional medicine is not standardized. “In conventional medicine one has to follow a certain method of training and it is tested. When they fulfill a certain number of conditions then they are declared doctors of medicine or nurses, etc”, said Dr Ekeke, who however expressed worried as to the fact that the situation is not the same with the practice of traditional medicine. Thus making it difficult to ascertain who is a traditional healer and
who is not. According to him one of the ways of sorting out this situation is to make a number of
criteria which the government is currently working on. On this light the organization for the protection of property rights has come up with some guideline to facilitate the identification of traditional healers. “We hope that this idea where somebody leaves from somewhere and comes to a big city like Yaounde or Douala sets up and say he is a traditional healer will be controlled” said Dr, Ekeke Monono M.
Furthermore government is making frantic efforts in regulating the practice of traditional medicine through new reforms that will be put in place in the days ahead. Such will include the creation of a national council of traditional healers and each health district in the country will have a council or a committee of traditional healers. The said council will be able to judge by criteria which they know who belong to where since in the practice there are those who can know who is a traditional; healer, bone setter, herbalists, birth attendant etc. Reason why the director of health care organization and Health Technology expressed hop that “by sitting these set of rules, regulations and guidelines, we would be able to reduce the number of charlatans and quarks, who parade the streets of our cities in the name of traditional healers”.

By Yemti Harry Ndienla