Sponsors:

OBJECTIVES

Conventional medicine has helped developed countries overcome or contained some of the deadliest diseases which in the past were unpreventable or untreatable. However, factors such as rising cost of drugs and healthcare delivery, disputes between government regulators and pharmaceutical companies and the ultimate withdrawal of some generic drugs from the markets because of safety and efficacy issues; and the existence and emergence of degenerative diseases such as HIV/AIDS, for which no cure have been found, despite billions of dollars of investment in research, show the limitations of modern medicine. Today, the developed world is beginning to give serious consideration to the use of traditional medicines or alternative and complementary therapies.

In the developing world, still emerging from the effects and traumas of colonization and slavery, saddled with heavy debt burdens, illiteracy, poverty, poor sanitation, lack of safe drinking water, inadequate housing, insufficiently trained doctors, few organized hospitals, clinics, medicine, equipment and supplies, the health of the people is still in jeopardy. The populations of all developing countries, especially those in Africa, rely on traditional medicine practitioners and on local medicinal plants to satisfy their primary health care needs.  Therefore, for these populations, the role of traditional medicine on health is extremely essential.

It is a common knowledge that inhabitants of many parts of the developing world rely on creative and innovative traditions known as "local knowledge" for food, nutrition, medicinal products, raising animals, restoring the health of degraded lands, water bodies, forests, wildlife and to sustain family and community development.

Notwithstanding the above, policy makers, science and technology establishments consistently do not encourage or give little recognition to local knowledge and traditions even if they are functional and viable.

The increasing influence of the media is contributing to declining respect for local healers and herbalists among their own communities. In addition to this, there are less interests and incentives for young people to acquire local knowledge and to experiment and rejuvenate them. And so once the "local experts," the older generation, are gone and there are no successors, the knowledge held in trust by those individuals for future generations is lost forever.

It is therefore urgently critical that not only should traditional knowledge be given importance in the contemporary educational system so that it is not lost or stripped of its socio-cultural values, but systems of reciprocity must be generated among knowledge providers and knowledge and resource-users, particularly the ones who have commercial goals through the medium of intellectual property regimes to consistently secure interests and livelihood for the young generation.

It is with the above issues in mind that this conference is being hosted.

SHORT TERM OBJECTIVES:

 

1.      To serve as a forum for the identification and testing of potentially beneficial low-cost naturally-derived medicinal products;

 

2.      To promote partnerships between indigenous healers, conventional medical practitioners and corporate institutions for sharing their indigenous knowledge of plants of medicinal value for future development and production of drugs and herbal products; and

 

3.      To encourage governments to adopt and enforce laws to protect and conserve plants of medicinal value; and to protect the rights of indigenous practitioners.

 

LONG TERM OBJECTIVES:

 

1. Serve as a major forum for bringing together conventional medical practitioners and traditional healer, so as to facilitate mutual awareness, respect and training in diagnostic and therapeutic best practices.

 

2. Advocate the integration of indigenous knowledge, which consists of ancient languages, physical, spiritual and cultural forms of local skills, into educational and technical systems in order to  ensure the preservation of this knowledge base and its utilization by present and future generations towards social and economic development.

 

The significant outcomes of this conference are:

 

(1) It will facilitate the identification and testing of potentially beneficial low-cost naturally-derived medicinal products for HIV/AIDS prevention and cure.

 

(2) It will facilitate the production of valuable resources which will ensure sound education and cultural empowerment in the fields of medicine, health care and sustainable development.