Health Minister, Hon Clay Forau Soalaoi, stated in a recent interview that 'Traditional Healers,' have not yet visited his Ministry, despite many of them claiming that they have traditional cures for the killer disease HIV/AIDS.
In recent weeks many 'Traditional Healers,' as they prefer to be called, have been selling these miracle cures in the streets of Honiara causing great concern with the Ministry of Health.Mr Soalaoi says that the government recognizes this increasing problem and his Ministry has a National HIV policy and also a strategic Plan 2005 to 2010 which state that the Ministry "will work closely with 'Traditional Healers' to ensure that there is mutual understanding of their roles to the treatment of HIV."
Mr Soalaoi says that having said that the Ministry of Health's position regarding the treatment of HIV/AIDS is medicinal treatment "based on evidence."
"For such non medical treatment to be used, there are processes for validation, and also proper research has to be carried out and they have to be verified by the World Health Organisation and other relevant bodies that deal with new drugs before they can be used."