Traditional Medicine Research & Policy

Bangkok Research Panel

TICAH hosted an unprecedented panel discussion at the Bangkok International AIDS Conference, Looking to Traditional Medicines for Treatments of AIDS. This was the first time that a panel focusing exclusively on research in traditional medicines and clinical therapies was included in the International AIDS Conference. Secondly, it was also path breaking in bringing together individuals, interventions and evidence from Asia and Africa around this kindred theme.

Physicians, scientists, and healers from Asia and Africa presented research on herbal and traditional medicines, described care programs built on indigenous therapies, and suggested strategies for including these approaches in global HIV/AIDS treatment and research protocols. This panel endeavored to create an opportunity for open exchange aimed at improving the quality and responsiveness of care available to positive people in these two huge and diverse regions of the world.

Chair: Dr. Mary Ann Burris (TICAH)

Discussant: Dr. Yahawa Sekagya (PROMETRA Uganda)

Dr. Sekagya holds a BDS in Dental Surgery obtained from Makarere University Medical School, Kampala. He became aware of his own calling to Traditional Medicine in 1978 when he underwent a transformational period that resulted in him completing a five-year training program in traditional healing practices. During this time and he came to appreciate the role of traditional healers in managing HIV/AIDS and its related ailments and decided to contribute his energies to this cause. He is now the President of PROMETRA Uganda as well as Heading the Department of Traditional Medicine at Nakaseke University.

Panelists:

  • Dr. Erick Gbodossou (PROMETRA International)

    Role of African Traditional Medicine in the Fight against AIDS
    Dr. Gbodossou is an Ob-Gyn and psychiatrist, with a joint degree in medicine and pharmacy from the University of Dakar in Senegal. He now maintains a private practice in Dakar along with his duties as President of PROMETRA International. Dr. Gbodossou traces his traditional medicine roots back to childhood. He was chosen at the age of two to be trained and initiated in the forest as a healer under the direction of his grandfather and a team of elders. Dr. Gbodossou has authored numerous publications on traditional medicine and was named one of 2000 Outstanding Scholars of the 21st Century by the International Bibliographical Centre of Cambridge, England.

  • Dr. Mogomme Masoga (Indigenous Knowledge Systems of South Africa (IKSSA) Trust)

    Looking to Traditional Medicine for Treatments of AIDS and AIDS related Illnesses - responses, challenges and protection of knowledge
    Dr Masoga holds a PhD in African Studies, specializing in Indigenous Healing and Medicine from socio-philosophical and cultural perspectives. He is also a trained and inducted traditional healer. Dr Masoga's work focuses on raising the awareness and sensitivity of biomedical researchers and scientists to health-related knowledge, beliefs and current practices of the Indigenous African Communities. Research projects he has been involved with include the Ubhejane Project to document the efficacy of 78 different plants gathered by a leading traditional healer. He is currently the Research Manager at the Indigenous Knowledge Systems of South Africa Trust (IKSSA).

  • Dr. Putu Oka Sukanta (Director, Taman Sringanis Foundation, Indonesia)
    Self and Nature's Potencies for Health

    Dr. Sukanta is a traditional healer and writer based in Indonesia. He served 10 years as a political detainee as a result of his writing activities and during this time was trained in acupressure techniques. On his release from prison, he received formal training in acupuncture and has dedicated himself to fighting the political and social injustices of HIV/AIDS through his writing and his healing. He is the Founder and Director of the Taman Sringanis Foundation, working with herbal and traditional healing approaches to managing HIV/AIDS.

  • Professor Zeng Yi (Chinese Foundation for Prevention of STD and AIDS)
    Studies on Anti-HIV drugs from Chinese Medicinal Herbs (ZL1) and treatment of AIDS patients

    Zeng Yi was born in China and graduated from Shanghai First Medical College in 1952, working as a research fellow in UK from 1974-1975 and in France in 1987. During the 1970s his work focused on the relationship between the EB virus and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and establishing techniques for early diagnosis of NPC. Since 1984 he has studied the serology and molecular epidemiology of HIV/AIDS, including working on an HIV vaccine using AAV and adenovirus as vectors (CIPRA). Professor Zeng is President of the Chinese Association for Preventive Medicine and President of the Chinese Foundation for Prevention of STD and AIDS.

  • Dr. Kensese Antoine Mossanda (Chemical Pathology Department, Medical University of South Africa)
    Molecular Mechanisms and the underlying activities of some African medicinal plants used in the traditional treatment of HIV/AIDS and opportunistic infections

    Dr. Mossanda holds a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Congo, in addition to three Masters degrees in Tropical Biology, Clinical Biology and Nutrition from the Tropical Medicine Institute of Antwerpen ñ Belgium, and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the State University of Liege, Belgium. His interest in traditional medicine was started when his grandfather, a traditional healer, cured him of childhood pneumonia. The interest was reawakened during his undergraduate studies when he discovered the fields of Pharmacognosy and Phytopharmacy. He is currently working in the Department of Chemical Pathology at the Medical University of South Africa where he continues with his research and works as a senior lecturer and research supervisor.