Kukula Healers Review 2012 & Plan for 2013

On 6-7 December 2012, Gino Cocchiaro (Natural Justice) attended a meeting of the Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners Association in Thulamahashe, South Africa. The Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners, a group of over 300 traditional health practitioners who developed a biocultural community protocol (BCP) in 2009, were meeting to discuss and evaluate their activities completed in 2012 as well as highlighting their aims for 2013. 

Accomplishments from 2012 included: registering as a NPO in South Africa; drafting a code of ethics for all members of the Kukula Association; creating a traditional knowledge common pool where individual knowledge is shared amongst members and with a local cosmetics company interested in the research and development of the knowledge; and collaborating with  Kruger National Park in its anti-rhino poaching efforts. In 2013, Kukula members plan to update their BCP to reflect legal developments and new priorities, to continue to develop their relationship with the cosmetics company towards and access and benefit sharing agreement, to continue to work for formal recognition as traditional health practitioners, to distribute copies of the code of ethics to all members, and to continue to support anti-poaching efforts.  The Kukula Association are also members of the African BCP Initiative and will continue to to seek the protection and growth of their knowledge, culture and the conservation of biodiversity in their area. 

Download the Kukula BCP here. 

Ebola Outbreak: Not Due to Witchcraft

Here is the most recent WHO update on the Ebola outbreak in Uganda; as of November 28 there were 6 confirmed and 1 probable case (case numbers have been adjusted from those previously reported due to testing coming back negative from several patients). There have been 4 deaths. 

One of the key challenges with managing the outbreak has been the belief in some communities that deaths have been due to witchcraft and not Ebola. This reminds me of a poster I saw in a clinic in rural Kenya back in 2001: 

http://ihm.nlm.nih.gov/images/C02494

In many traditional African cultures disease is seen as having a supernatural origin or component, and  witchcraft is believed to play a major role in disease acquisition. Such beliefs can compromise disease prevention efforts. Traditional beliefs wherein HIV is considered to be spread via witchcraft have been associated with higher risk sexual activity (such as not wearing condoms), for example. 

At an herbal medicine shop, South Africa (author's photo)

The WHO report notes working with local religious leaders and traditional healers to facilitate good infection control practices that will help halt the spread of Ebola. Understanding how disease is perceived by a given community and close integration with local health leaders is critical in addressing any health issue, especially one as deadly as Ebola. 

Bushbuckridge BCP Review and Code of Ethics Drafting

Faced with discrimination, the unauthorised use of their traditional knowledge and genetic resources, and the overharvesting of the plants with which they sustain the health of their communities, the members of Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners in Bushbuckridge, South Africa, organised themselves in 2009 and drafted a biocultural community protocol (BCP). The BCP asserts their role in maintaining community health, preserving culture, and protecting community knowledge and biodiversity. 

On 8-9 February, 2012, the 30-member management committee of Kukula gathered in Bushbuckridge to assess their BCP and to draft a code of ethics to guide all of their members’ practices. The gathering was facilitated by the chairperson of Kukula, Rodney Sibuyi, and by Natural Justice with support from the management committee of the Kruger-to-Canyons Biosphere. The meeting was part of the Africa BCP Initiative which is funded by the ABS Capacity Development Initiative, OSISA, the Christensen Fund, the Shuttleworth Foundation, and OPEN A.I.R.

In reviewing the BCP’s impact, participants examined changes in their capacity to protect their knowledge, the potential for engaging in access and benefit sharing, the protection of their biodiversity and culture, their access to resources within protected areas, and recognition of their roles as healers from the government. Generally, participants felt that advances have been made in the capacity and willingness of Kukula members to harvest resources sustainably, in their access to resources within protected areas, in their current non-disclosure agreement with a cosmetics company that may lead to an access and benefit agreement, and in recognition of their roles by government. While they felt that changes were generally positive, many are moving very slowly. To increase the pace of these changes the community highlighted two interrelated objectives; increased organisation and cohesiveness and increased awareness at the community and government level of the role of Kukula members. 

The committee then outlined the broad themes they wanted to cover within a code of ethics for all members. They then broke into groups to draft guidelines for each theme and returned to the plenary session to debate these guidelines and endorse some of them as the full management committee. The draft guidelines address the responsibilities of Kukula members: the needed qualifications; the general principles around charging fees; the importance of hygiene around the workplace, tools used and medicines prescribed; relationships with patients, other healers and doctors, and with students; and disciplinary procedures. Natural Justice will now prepare a formal document with the draft guidelines and suggested modifications based on national and international law for the management committee to review and present to the full membership of Kukula.

TK Commons Meeting in Cape Town

On the 31st January representatives from the Bushbuckridge Traditional Healers’ Association, lawyers working on issues around traditional knowledge (TK) from Kenya and Ghana, and Natural Justice gathered in Cape Town with support from the Open A.I.R. Project. The theme was “Non-Traditional Users of TK—Opportunities and Challenges Around Compliance”. Breakout sessions delved into the definition of TK commons, methods of pooling and sharing TK, TK practioners and their issues, external links to non-traditional users of TK, and existing and future policies around TK. Interviews with the healers from Bushbuckridge on the challenges they have faced in managing the sharing of their TK informed much of the discussion. 

Looking forward, the representatives looked to build on the successes of the Bushbuckridge community. As communities in Ghana and Kenya move forward with their development of TK commons, participants will support the development of linkages between these communities and the Bushbuckridge healers. They will also continue to look for ways to creatively collaborate to analyse and shape laws and policies around TK based on experiences at the grassroots level.