Event Details:
Chair Person: Dr Bianca De Canha
Event Type: Other
Cost to non Member: R500
Venue Details:
To join, please copy and paste this link into your browser:https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vduCgrj0sG9Hjupco7DViYHsFdo5AbTMh
Description:
Since
the introduction of homeopathy to South Africa in 1820, the homeopathic
profession has undergone great advancement as well as evolution. Through our
registration with the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa
(AHPCSA) and the tertiary education offered by the Durban University of
Technology and the University of Johannesburg, homeopaths have become key
players in the maintenance of health and well-being in the South African
context. This is especially evident in our tertiary training facilities as well
as in our community clinics where thousands of members of the public are
offered basic healthcare services as well as homeopathic care at a nominal fee,
with remarkable results.
The
greatest challenge experienced as a homeopathic profession in South Africa
includes a lack of understanding of the qualification and registration of a
homeopathic practitioner, a lack of understanding by the medical fraternity as
to where a homeopathic practitioner and homeopathic care fit into the current
model of healthcare, an inability to access those in need of basic healthcare
owing to the fact that there is no place in a primary health care setting in
South Africa for Homeopathy and especially, that with the lack of a Policy on
Complementary Healthcare for the incorporation into the National Health
Insurance policy. This is a shared problem across all the professions
registered with the AHPCSA.
Homeopaths
in South Africa have an immense amount of support from the public who have, due
to customs and generational knowledge, enjoyed much relief and use of
traditional and complementary medicines. Couple this too with the advent of the
Covid 19 pandemic and the awareness of health that this has created, the public
now realises more than ever the importance of maintaining good health. The
South African population is not only ready for better health choices, we now
see that they are demanding it.
The
HSA is taking steps to remedy this for the better of the profession of
Homeopathy. In this way, we believe, homeopaths to be a vital component of the
healthcare system - a diagnostically trained triage officer. This is not in a
way to replace medical practitioners, but rather alleviating the heavy burden
placed on our medical doctors, healthcare facilities and an overburdened
healthcare system, through services of basic health care as well as healthcare
education and awareness.
It is the intention of the Homeopathic
Association of South Africa, representative of the South African Homeopath and
advocate for homeopathic incorporation into our healthcare system, to address
the following key areas in this presentation:
1.
The extensive research, usage and
acceptance of homeopathy internationally as well as locally
2.
What strategies we have, as a professional
association, put in place to create awareness about homeopathy and advancing
the homeopathic profession.
3.
How we can start to work together in the
multidisciplinary systems intended by the NHI
4.
How we can work as a collective to
enhance the awareness of those professions under the AHPCSA in a way that is
safe for the public
If the profession of homeopathy succeeds,
this could mean growth for other professions in similar circumstances and the
advancement of complementary medicine and therapies. Our collaboration at this
time is key to our success.