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The Sacred Connection: How Traditional Healers Are Safeguarding Plants and Knowledge for...

The Sacred Connection: How Traditional Healers Are Safeguarding Plants and Knowledge for Climate-Resilient Health In this part of discussion, Dr. Lydia Matoke expands on best practices rooted in traditional wisdom, highlighting the nutritional and medicinal benefits of indigenous foods like sorghum and millet. She emphasizes their dual role in mitigating chronic diseases while simultaneously contributing to broader climate change mitigation efforts. She stresses the critical importance of integrating the teaching of herbal medicine and traditional food knowledge into all learning institutions, to propagate this dynamic cultural heritage. She encourages involving youth through dedicated seminars to enlighten them about traditional medicine and career opportunities. Dr. Matoke also addresses the current policy landscape, noting that existing regulations have standards that are prohibitively high for local practitioners, underscoring the need for policies to be "domesticated". She argues that traditional healers should be officially recognized by the Ministry of Health, rather than being classified merely as artists under the Ministry of Culture, despite acknowledging the latter's significant role in raising their visibility. Dr. Matoke raises a concern about the future sourcing of traditional medicines, particularly for conditions like HIV and cancer, given potential shifts in international health funding, such as America's cessation of aid. This fuels her passionate call for the government to make substantial investments in the development and research of traditional knowledge and medicine, especially as older, experienced herbalists are passing away, taking invaluable knowledge with them. Dr. Matoke shares her own successful work, primarily dealing with common ailments like stomach-related diseases (including H. pylori), offering cognitive health solutions for infertility, and addressing chronic conditions such as arthritis and cancer, contrasting this with modern medication's tendency to create dependency. She also details practices that build resilience, such as drying various parts of plants for preservation to ensure year-round availability. She urges the involvement of youth in accessing land for nurseries, creating both income and conservation opportunities.