Brazzaville, 16 November 2004 -- The fourth meeting of the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine in the African Region got underway Tuesday in Brazzaville with a call on members of the group to come up with a "solid, evidence-based report" on positive health outcomes that could be achieved with the use of traditional medicine.

Opening the meeting, the out-going WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim M. Samba, said that such a report would serve to convince political leaders, policy makers, decision makers and development partners, among others, that traditional medicine was effective in the treatment and management of diseases and conditions such as malaria, hypertension, diabetes and sickle-cell anaemia.

Dr Samba stated that such evidence-based report would serve as a major advocacy tool, help speed up the official recognition of traditional medicine by governments, and improve the availability of traditional medicines to the vast majority of people living in the Region.

The Regional Director advised that mutual trust and respect must drive the relationship between Traditional Health Practitioners and Modern Health Practitioners, pointing out that the noble preoccupation of both groups was to make their clients achieve the highest possible state of health - a cardinal goal of WHO. Traditional Health Practitioners, he said, should be "more open", and always prepared to share their knowledge and demonstrate the efficacy of their services and products. 

The Expert Committee is made up of 10 members from eight Member States. They are: Dr. Jean Baptiste Nikiema (Burkina Faso), Prof. On'onkoko Penge (Democratic Republic of Congo), Prof. F.K Oppong-Boachie (Ghana), Dr J. K. Ghitae (Kenya), Dr. Mawuli Kofi-Tsepko (Kenya), Dr Jacques Ranaivoravo) (Madagascar), Prof. Rabodo Andriantsiferana (Madagascar), Prof. Abayomi Sofowora (Nigeria), Dr Donna Kabatesi (Uganda), and Dr Nhlavana Maseko (Swaziland). Two of them are Traditional Health Practitioners while the other eight are Modern Health Practitioners and experts in other fields of modern medicine.