Govt to table Bill to control traditional healers

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 12:24:51 +0000

By Tawanda Munyuki

The ministry of health says it is still working on the Traditional Medicine Bill to help regulate the sale of traditional medicines in Zambia.

Ministry spokesperson Kennedy Malama said the ministry was currently not able to regulate the sale of herbal medicines as it was not within its mandate.

Dr. Malama said that the ministry had no control whatsoever over the traditional medicine been sold in the streets because the Bill was yet to be tabled before parliament.

He said once the Bill was passed the ministry would have authority to regulate on what medicine were fit for sale to members of the public.

“As a ministry we have no authority over the herbal medicines offered for sale by  traditional healers but with the Bill we can have authority to decide on what can or not be sold to the public’’, he said.

Dr. Malama said that the current law did not allow for the ministry of health to regulate the operations of the traditional healers or people selling herbal medicines.

He has however urged members of the public to be cautious of the medicines they buy from the streets.

Dr. Malama said people needed to be responsible and ensure that they did not buy medicines from the streets anyhow.

“Our appeal as a ministry goes to our people, they should always be cautious when they are buying herbal medicines because we do not know how it might affect their health,” he said.