Chiefs in the Central Region have called on African governments to give due recognition to and assist herbal medicine practitioners in their efforts to find a cure for HIV/AIDS.
They said they are distressed about the fact that although some herbalists in some countries on the continent, seem to have found herbs to be a possible cure for the disease, their claims have been brushed aside and treated with contempt, particularly by health ministries. Nana Kwesi Atta, II, Paramount Chief of the Oguaa Traditional Area, made the call on behalf of the chiefs in the region at a forum organised at Cape Coast on Tuesday to brainstorm on effective ways in which traditional rulers could help stem the spread of the disease.
The forum, formed part of the five-day 'senior experts conference on HIV/AIDS and education in ECOWAS states', currently taking place at Elmina.
Nana Atta cited the case of Nana Drobo, the Ghanaian herbalist, who claimed to have found a cure for the disease in the early 90s. He observed that in spite of testimonies to that effect, his efforts were not recognised and he had to seek foreign assistance to test the efficacy of his herbs.
Nana Atta said similar fates seem to have befallen herbalists in other African countries and stressed that to help address the situation, there is the need for participants at the conference to impress on their governments the importance of herbs as a likely cure for AIDS.
He said, even though, encouraging the use of condom is good as a preventive measure, it should be stressed that it is not a guaranteed protection against the disease and that there is, therefore, the need for all to guard against sexual promiscuity and other practices of getting infected. Other chiefs present, including Nyeyi Ghartey, Nana Amoakwa Buadu, Paramount Chiefs of the Efutu and Breman Asikuma Traditional areas respectively, took turns to brief the forum about their involvement in the educational campaign against the disease.
They were all of the consensus that cultural practices such as the performance of puberty rites should be revived as a check against girls' indulgence in early sex and that there is the need for intensive publicity on the dangers of the disease.
Mr Bruno Lefevre, UNESCO Representative in Ghana, explained that the forum had been necessitated by the fact that traditional rulers, who are in direct contact with the people, could be made to play meaningful roles in the fight against the disease.
