A paper by Aceme Nyika, published this week in Developing World Bioethics examines the reliance on traditional medicine by HIV/AIDS sufferers in Africa, due to the affordability of traditional medicine in comparison to orthodox medicine.

Despite recent calls for traditional medicine to be subjected to the same stringent regulations and ethical guidelines as orthodox medicine, traditional medicine is treated with relative laxity – especially where ethical and regulatory issues are concerned.

Given that about 80% of Africans rely on traditional medicines, the author of the paper, Dr Aceme Nyika from the South African Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in Southern Africa, warns that ‘there are loopholes in the practice of African traditional medicine that have the potential to expose patients to harm.’