By: Helmut Mahongo
While BRICS leaders endorsed traditional medicine at a summit in New Delhi this week, Namibia’s Traditional Healers’ Practitioners Bill remains gathering dust in Parliament, 12 years after it was first tabled.
The 18th BRICS Summit ended with the New Delhi Declaration, a 140-point consensus document that “acknowledges the growing relevance of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) to strengthening health systems and contributing towards Universal Health Coverage.”
The bloc also moved to establish a BRICS Expert Working Group on TCIM under its Health Track.
The World Health Organisation welcomed the move. “The endorsement by BRICS leaders in New Delhi strengthens momentum behind global efforts to advance the safe, effective and evidence-informed use of traditional medicine,” the WHO said.
But in Namibia, the legislation that would formally integrate traditional healers into the national health system has never been passed.
The Namibian Gap
The Traditional Healers’ Practitioners Bill was tabled in 2014. It has not been passed into law.
The consequences of that gap are concrete. Without a legal framework, traditional healers operate in a regulatory vacuum.
There is no registration system. No minimum standards. No protection for patients. No pathway for collaboration between traditional healers and conventional medical practitioners.
Yet traditional medicine remains a primary source of healthcare for millions of Africans.
The WHO estimates that up to 80% of the continent’s population relies on traditional medicine for primary healthcare needs. In Namibia, traditional healers are often the first (and sometimes the only) point of contact for communities far from formal health facilities.
The bill would change that.
It would establish a regulatory framework for traditional healers, create a register of practitioners, set standards for practice, and formalise the relationship between traditional medicine.
However, none of that has happened.
The Global Context
The BRICS declaration did not emerge in isolation. It builds on the WHO’s Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034, which sets four objectives: strengthen evidence, ensure safety and regulation, integrate TCIM into health systems, and optimise its cross-sectoral value.
The strategy describes a “vision for universal access to safe, effective and people-centred traditional, complementary and integrative medicine.”
Namibia is a WHO member state. It is bound by the organisation’s commitments. Yet the legislative foundation for integration, the THPs Bill, remains unpassed.
The Accountability Question
Who is responsible for the bill’s 12-year delay?
The Ministry of Health and Social Services has not explained why the bill has never been brought to a vote. Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health has not scheduled it for debate.
Neither has publicly stated a timeline for its passage.
The Ministry has previously stated its support for traditional medicine integration. But support without legislation is not integration. It is rhetoric.
The Human Cost
For traditional healers, the absence of a legal framework means vulnerability. Without registration, they cannot access formal training. Without standards, they cannot demonstrate their competence.
Without legal recognition, they cannot collaborate with the formal health system, even when their patients need both.
For patients, the absence of regulation means risk. There is no system to verify qualifications, investigate complaints, or ensure safety. The most vulnerable- those who cannot afford or access conventional healthcare- are the least protected.
