Davey Sonya
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA, United States of America.
WHO South East Asia J Public Health. 2013 Jul-Dec;2(3):131-134. doi: 10.4103/2224-3151.206758.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has the noble goals of advancing traditional medicine and simultaneously promoting the regulation and professionalization of traditional healers. However, such regulation has the unintended consequence of withholding power from traditional practitioners. This review explores this concept through a historical analysis of traditional medicine in both India and Zimbabwe. During the post-colonial period in both countries, traditional medicine contributed to the creation of national identity. In the process of nationalizing traditional medicine, regulations were set in place that led to a rise in the university-style teaching of traditional healing. This period of professionalization of traditional healers resulted in certain types of traditional medicine being marginalized, as they were neither included in regulation nor taught at university. Since then, the current era of globalization has commoditizedtraditional healing. Private industries like ZEPL and Dabur have rapidly and vastly altered the role of traditional healers. Consumers can now buy traditional medication directly from companies without visiting a healer. Additionally, disputes over patents and other intellectual property rights have led to important questions regarding ownership of certain plants traditionally known for healing properties. Through regulation and commercialization of traditional medicine, healers have lost some of their independence to practise.
世界卫生组织（WHO）有着推进传统医学并同时促进传统治疗师规范化和专业化的崇高目标。然而，这种规范产生了意想不到的后果，即剥夺了传统从业者的权力。本综述通过对印度和津巴布韦传统医学的历史分析来探讨这一概念。在两国的后殖民时期，传统医学有助于塑造国家身份认同。在将传统医学国有化的过程中，制定了相关规定，导致传统治疗的大学式教学有所增加。传统治疗师的这一职业化时期导致某些类型的传统医学被边缘化，因为它们既未被纳入规范，也未在大学中教授。从那时起，当前的全球化时代已将传统治疗商品化。像ZEPL和达布尔这样的私营企业迅速且极大地改变了传统治疗师的角色。消费者现在无需拜访治疗师就能直接从公司购买传统药物。此外，关于专利和其他知识产权的争端引发了一些重要问题，涉及某些传统上以治疗特性闻名的植物的所有权。通过传统医学的规范和商业化，治疗师在执业方面失去了一些独立性。
