Countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America use traditional medicine ™ to help meet some of their primary health care needs. In Africa, up to 80% of the population uses traditional medicine for primary health care. In industrialized countries, adaptations of traditional medicine are termed “Complimentary“ or “Alternative” (CAM). (WHO Fact sheet 2007).
A report of the Meeting of Commonwealth Health Related NGO’s Barbados 12th - 15th November, 1998 ideated that in the industrialised countries of the Commonwealth complementary medicine predominates and is largely utilised by the more affluent members of society. In the non-industrialised countries, traditional medicine is the predominant form of healthcare and is more widely used by different sections of society, particularly the poor and rural communities.
For example In Germany, 90% of the population has used a natural remedy at some point in their life. Between 1995 and 2000, In Germany, 90% of the populations have used a natural remedy at some point in their life. Between 1995 and 2000 and The global market for herbal medicines currently stands at over US $ 60 billion annually and is growing steadily and 25% of all modern medicines are made from plants first used traditionally.
I was privileged to attend the workshop: Prioritise Health – Realise Potential at the 2007 Commonwealth People’s Forum. I realised that traditional and complimentary medicine issues where not addressed in this 2-day meeting. As alternative therapies play a vital role in serving the people worldwide, it is also important it is integrated in the debate in this forum.
There is a need to:
Integrate proven alternative and traditional healing practices in to the health systems
Develop national policies on the evaluation and regulation of TM/CAM practices;
Provide adequate resources to conduct research for evidence and safety, efficacy and improvement of the quality of the TAM/CAM products and practices;
Ensure accessibility, availability and affordability of TMCAM
Promote proven alternative and traditional healing practices by providers and consumers;
Provide a clear basis on collaboration with indigenous knowledge holders users on mutual benefit sharing
One of the focuses of the Commonwealth People’s Forum, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda this year is health. And the HIV and AIDS pandemic came to the forefront. During the workshop that focused on Education as a tool for HIV prevention, on Monday, Dr Alex Coutinho stressed the significance of prevention in the fight against HIV and AIDS. And today when I spoke to Dr Joe Muwonge, Associate Director International Policy and Advocacy for World Vision, he noted that parents should live if children are to stop suffering the brunt of HIV and AIDS. How can parents live? Prevention should be at the forefront in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Many people still think that HIV and AIDS is something that only affects adults but they could never be more wrong. At the end of 2006, there were 2.3 million children living with HIV and AIDS around the world. In the same year, over half a million children became newly infected. Of the 2.9 million people who died of AIDS during 2006, 1 in 10 was a child. Every hour, 40 children die as a result of AIDS.
I talked to Dr Muwonge about the effects of HIV and AIDS on children. Are these issues given paramount focus in the Commonwealth states or does more need to be done?
CHOGM presents a unique opportunity to bring together Leaders and Ministers from throughout the Commonwealth to discuss issues which are not just of importance to the Commonwealth, but which are of global significance. The Government of Uganda, who are hosting the event, have chosen the theme “Transformation of Commonwealth Societies to achieve Political, Economic and Human Development”. Under that wider theme, we will be discussing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Climate Change, Trade, and Education. These are all key issues, which we believe need to be tackled head on if the poorest countries of the Commonwealth are to develop. And we firmly believe that the Commonwealth itself has an important role to play in these issues. As a unique grouping of countries from across the globe, with a fundamental set of principles in common, we, the Commonwealth, cut across traditional regional and economic groupings and can move the debate forward and take action on such issues of critical importance.
Civil society has an important role to play too. The Commonwealth People’s Forum, is an excellent opportunity to raise the visibility of civil society. Focussing on the theme of “Realising People’s Potential”, Ugandan and pan-Commonwealth organisations will discuss key issues such as democracy and development. Their views will then be presented to Heads of Government at CHOGM.
My best wishes for a successful Forum. I look forward to hearing the outcomes.
In 2005, dues to the high numbers of vendors in markets around Kampala dying from HIV/AIDS, Angelina Wapakhabulo, founded the Market AIDS Vendors Project (MAVAP), Uganda. Today, the unique project that took health series to the people is producing results and helping empower market vendors socially and economically to live healthy lives even with the threat of HIV/AIDS.
Right: Ms Angelina Wapakhabulo, Project Coordinator - Market AIDS Vendors Project (MAVAP)
I carried out an interview with Angelina Wapakhabulo, Founder, Market AIDS Vendors Project (MAVAP), Uganda, on 15 November.
Feel free to download a transcript in PDF or Word here.
Journalists covering the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Peoples Forum (CPF) in Kampala yesterday faced-off with Ugandan security officials over media accreditation to the summit.
Trouble begun after officials of President Yoweri Museveni’s elite protection unit, the Presidential Guard Brigade (PGB), barred reporters who didn’t carry a “special” accreditation tag, from covering the opening gala.
It was in many ways a bizarre spectacle as it turned out that reporters were never informed that they needed additional accreditation, on top of the official media accreditation issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Worse still, the security officials took the decision to issue a second accreditation without informing the Secretariat.
It was a frustrating experience for many reporters, both local and international, especially those who have travelled thousands of miles to cover one of the biggest events on the Commonwealth calendar this year. I spoke to Mr Julius Mucunguzi, a communications officer in charge of media and broadcasting at the Commonwealth Secretariat, and while he expressed utter shock at the organizational hitch, he was very optimistic it wouldn’t affect the smooth running of the event.
But we cannot forget that this was the opening of the largest civil society event this year, a grouping of people better known for their love-hate relationship with politicians and the government.
And we also know that civil society has often been accused of hiding behind the media in promoting interests not favourable to the state. So were there any ulterior motives in issuing a second accreditation? Why was the Commonwealth Secretariat kept in the dark?
These are questions that need answers. It would be a sad commentary for Uganda as host, if such organizational hitches continue at the ensuing Commonwealth events.
You would think that after 25 years of the world living with the challenge of HIV/AIDS, statistics would be showing success. However after listening to Dr Alex Coutinho, Director, Infectious Diseases Institute, Makarere University, I realized that they are still scary.
Dr Coutinho who has been working in the HIV/AIDS field since 1983 got me thinking about these statistics when he spoke during the Workshop on HIV/Prevention Education as a Tool for Social Transformation. This is at the ongoing Commonwealth People’s Forum in Uganda.
“The statistics are glaring and yet there is a substantial increase in HIV/AIDS funding in the world,” says Dr Coutinho. “Twenty years of working in the HIV/AIDS sector and I still wake up miserable.”
And it is easy to understand why he would wake up miserable. Take an example of Uganda. Even after the breakthrough of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), 20% to 30% of infected mothers still give birth to infected children. Yet in South Africa, PMTCT is proving to be a success, 30% of mothers access comprehensive prevention care and are having healthy children.
I managed to get a short audio segment from Dr Coutinho at the workshop:
Why is this not happening in a country like Uganda where HIV/AIDS prevention has been at the forefront even with the political leaders? Have we relaxed or do we think that having an infection rate of about 7% is all the success Uganda needs?
The truth is that progress on prevention is still miserable and yet today everyone seems to be focusing on a vaccine rather than using knowledge gained to come up with prevention education messages that will work. Dr Coutinho asks: “why are we clamoring for a vaccine instead of calling for innovative preventive messages?”
So why not let the two examples of statistics do the talking?
The progress on prevention is still miserable. Only 9% of people in Uganda have access to condoms.
Only 11% of infected mothers have access to PMTCT.
Here is a sense of what happened at the opening ceremony. A few pictures and some audio.
SERVING THE NATION: A Ugandan policewoman struggles to hoist the flag of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the moments that preceded the opening of the Commonwealth People Forum at Hotel Africana yesterday. The country is basking in activity as it opens its doors to representatives of a third of the world’s population. Ugandan President, Mr Yoweri Museveni, has urged Ugandans to contribute to the success of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting taking place this week in Kampala by being hospitable.
The crowd listens to opening statements
President Museveni addresses the audience
ACHOLI DANCERS: CPF delegates were treated to a pulsating performance by the Acholi Cultural Foundation, a group of talented folk song and traditional dancers from northern Uganda. The group staged a renowned dance presentation, one that greets the installation of a new cultural chief or one only performed when an important person visits the Acholi people.
Download a low bandwidth audio clip of the Acholi dancers here, or press play below:
With Uganda hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in not so long a while, preparations are in higher gear than ever before. Lots of facelifts, road repairs, security deployment, dry runs and much more are going on to ensure the meeting is a success.
As one of the pre-CHOGM meetings, the Commonwealth People’s Forum, (CPF) has caught the public eye. The five-day event officially opens Sunday, 18 November 2007 and the opening is to be presided over by HE Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the host President of CHOGM 2007.
A lot is underway to ensure the forum is a big success. Notable in the CPF is the People’s Space, where the general public are invited to freely participate and be a part of CHOGM, something that has not happened before in any of the previous CHOGM events. To sugar-coat the CPF, blogging is to be covered by a group of five individuals dressed in maroon t-shirts with name tags, inscriptions about the blog and the blog web address.
At a glance, one can tell it’s going to be a great and fulfilling event which ought not to be missed by any Ugandan. Owing to the fact that entrance is not restricted and is also free, people from all walks of life are expected to come and be a part of this coveted event as they discuss issues pertaining to:
My name is Charles Odongtho, a Ugandan trained journalist with eight years of practice. I hold a Bachelor Degree in Mass Communication from Makerere University and a Diploma in Journalism from the Uganda Management Institute-UMI.
I am interested in issues of human rights, environment, governance, media and development, peace and corruption.
My interest in journalism goes beyond just the coverage of events and issues as they unfold.
I am an ardent believer in justice, peace, exposing issues of corruption and generally working to see that there is fairness in every sector of society. I joined journalism to get a channel through which I can be able to put politicians and other news makers under the spotlight to explain why they cannot provide social justice to their society.
As a journalist I am amazed at the gap that exists between the rich and the poor in our society to the extent that within the urban centres, you can find hundreds of people who are excessively rich and have everything going right for them. They can send their children to the best foreign schools, give them the best health care, and yet I have travelled extensively through Uganda and I have met thousands who cannot even afford a meal a day. Millions of Ugandans live on less than a dollar a day and we are all within the same country. Many of the poor in the countryside cannot even send their pregnant wives to the health care centres for ante-natal care.
As a journalist I have the opportunity to bring all these issues to a public discussion for possible solutions.
Here’s a short piece of audio created by me about my involvement in the event:
My name is Elizabeth Kameo. I am a 28 year old freelance journalist based in Uganda. I am currently working on a web publication that will cover women’s health issues in the East African region and which in time will be extended to the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa.
I chose to set up a web publication simply because media is fast embracing the world wide space. Further still, women’s health issues are not given enough coverage in the mainstream media in Uganda and many other African countries, yet they need to be addressed if we are to achieve development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
My journalism career began seven years ago at the New Vision, a government owned daily newspaper in Uganda where I worked for close to two years before moving on to the Daily Monitor an independent daily.
In 2004, ten journalist colleagues and I set up the Weekly Observer Newspaper. I was a Director and editor for two years before I moved on to freelance journalism.
Being a part of the people’s forum blog is a great opportunity for me to further explore blogging as a way of information provision and not just fun. I hope that at the end of this event, I will be able to use experience gained and incorporate it into my work as a journalist. I am glad to be a part of something that is a first in Uganda and also during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. It is always an honour for me to provide information to people who would otherwise not have been able to get access to it; that is why I am a journalist.
Here’s a short piece of audio created by me about my involvement in the event:
