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Cameroon'¯Warns Against COVID Quacks

Moki Edwin Kindzeka

   YAOUNDE - Cameroon marked African Traditional Medicine Day Monday,
   cautioning its population against quacks trying to make
   money,'¯especially during the coronavirus pandemic.'¯Authorities'¯say
   while some traditional medicines have a proven medical use, many fake
   healers are looking to scam those who cannot afford modern medicine.

   A so-called African traditional healer uses a loudspeaker to entice
   passersby.

   He saidpeople who have not found solutions to their health problems in
   hospitals should come to him.

   Cameroonian authorities say there are more than 800 traditional healers
   in the capital, Yaoundé.

   The Cameroon Association of French Speaking Healers says nationwide
   there are at least 19,000.

   Healer Nadege Avoulou accepts chickens as consultation fees from
   patients who do not have money.

   Avoulou, who has received 15 chickens in the last day, says she
   specializes in spiritual healing.

   She saidearly signs of spiritual attacks include severe pain on the
   forehead, nosebleeds, vomiting and fever. Avoulou saidshe helps
   patients by giving them medicine she prepares from mango, tree roots
   and animal skin.

   Fifty-year-old farmer Marie Essimbi saidshe took her sick son to
   Avoulou.

   She saidher 32-year-old son regained his health and started walking on
   his own after he went through some form of spiritual cleansing. Essimbi
   saidthe healer boiled some leaves and grains for her son to drink and
   wash his face with three times a day.

   Authorities say about 70% of its 25 million people depend primarily on
   African traditional medicine as many in remote areas cannot access or
   afford hospitals.

   But, while some herbal medicines have been shown to have health
   benefits, many other alleged traditional medicines only help the
   so-called healers.

   Divine Tsala leads a group of five such healers who claim to have
   successfully treated patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the
   coronavirus.

   Tsala saidshe can confirm that 1,000 people who tested COVID-19
   positive recovered their health after they were treated with African
   traditional medicine. Tsala saidsome of'¯those who recovered were more
   than 60 years old.

   Cameroonian officials say there is no cure for COVID-19 or effective
   treatment by African traditional medicine.

   Health Minister Manaouda Malachie Monday warned against quacks and
   their claims.

   Malachie said, like many Africans, he can't undermine the importance of
   African traditional medicine in saving lives and ensuring general well
   being. But he warns it is imperative for successful African traditional
   healers to organize themselves and help the government to kick out from
   their midst those charlatans who are damaging the lives of innocent
   people. In that regard, Malachie saidhe has ordered a census of
   prominent and acclaimed African traditional medical practitioners in
   Cameroon.

   Malachie said the aim is to root out quacks and stop the illegal
   business from putting lives at risk.

   The World Health Organization marks African Traditional Medicine Day by
   involving verified traditional healers in health care services.

   Shortly after the pandemic reached Cameroon in March, the government
   began urging those with symptoms to go to hospitals -- not to so-called
   healers.

   The WHO says Cameroon has more than 19,000 confirmed cases of the virus
   and more than 400 deaths.

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