Traditional Medicine : Practical Modalities Explained To Senators

In order to improve the general health care system in the country, a bill relating to the organisation and practice of traditional medicine in Cameroon was brought before legislators for scrutiny. The Minister of Public Health, Manaouda Malachie was thus before the Committee for Cultural, Social and Family Affairs of the Senate on November 25, 2024 to explain the pertinence of the legal instrument that seeks to regulate the sector. This was in the presence of the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with Assemblies, Bolvine Wakata.  
Edifying Senators on the content and purpose of the legal instrument, the Minister noted that it contains general principles and the different categories of traditional practitioners, conditions for practising traditional medicine, the collaboration between traditional and conventional medicine, sustainable use of traditional pharmacopoeia, control and regulation mechanisms by the public authorities, as well as administrative and criminal penalties. As per the conditions on the practice of traditional medicine in Cameroon, Manaouda Malachie said its shall be subject to an authorisation by the Minister of Public Health, and all traditional health practitioners shall submit a written statement to the competent territorial authority on the treatments and procedures for which they are qualified. He further explained that the practice of traditional medicine shall be limited to a specific number of pathologies to be treated and/or procedures to be performed in the health care unit of the traditional practitioner or accor...