Traditional healer and founder of the Garden of Eden International Healing and Research Foundation in Buea, Dr. Richard Fru, has said some conventional doctors want traditional practitioners suppressed. "We have a cordial relationship with some conventional doctors who are well informed about traditional medicine but we face resistance from others who are so pruned to the conventional medicine that they have sealed their minds against traditional medicine. Such conventional doctors have been mounting pressure on government to suppress traditional doctors, but they are fighting a lost battle," says the tradi-practitioner.

Dr. Fru made the statement during a press conference he convened at his Wonya-Mavio, Mile 18 Clinic in Buea, to commemorate the 7th African Traditional Medicine Day, Monday, August 31. Dr. Fru said the African Traditional Medicine Day was instituted by the World Health Organisation as a means to promote traditional medicine. This year's edition was celebrated under the theme; Traditional Medicine and the safety of the patients. Dr. Fru regretted that "government is not making any effort to regulate the practice of traditional medicine".
 

He disclosed that they have forwarded a draft law to parliament, to legalise the practise of traditional medicine and institute a code of ethics, but that parliament seems to be silent about it. Against this backdrop, he said, charlatans have invaded the profession and are putting the lives of patients at risk. "I think it is important to celebrate this day, especially at this time that there seems to be a new spirit in the practice. This will trigger traditional practitioners to use a code of ethics and prioritise to the safety of patients," Dr. Fru said.

He stressed that traditional medicine practice should be a calling and not inherited. "Those who inherit it don't do it well because they must have derailed from their destiny." He said everybody has his mission on earth and that his mission was to be a traditional healer. "At first, I was a mathematician, but I had the burning desire to become a doctor. I hadn't money to go to a medicine school so I concentrated on herbs," Dr. Fru said.

Reacting to claims by traditional healers that they can cure certain illnesses which their conventional counterparts say are incurable, he said, there is no illness on earth which is incurable. Hear him: "Healers can cure every disease on earth. It is just that some people have limitations." He made a distinction between a sorcerer and a healer, stating that those who use the power of plants to kill and destroy are witches and wizards, while those who use plants to heal are traditional healers.

The Concoction Called 'Try-ME'

Dr. Fru said there are more than 200 drugs produced in his clinic, but, according to him, Try-Me is the drug that has been liberated to the public owing to its holistic nature. "Try-Me is a drug that you don't need to consult an expert to diagnose your disease before consuming it. We don't talk much about the other drugs because we prefer to emphasise only on Try-Me. This is because it is a drug to be taken when there is no cure.

The Garden of Eden

Dr. Fru also revealed that he has overhauled his institute, the Garden of Eden Institute of Natural Medicine, Cameroon, GAEINAMED-CAM. "The institute has been reborn and the name changed to Dr. Fru's Garden of Eden International Healing and Research Foundation," says Dr. Fru.

Enter Former Health Minister

Meanwhile, former Public Health Minister, who is also the pioneer Director of the National School of Medicine, CUSS, and the African Regional Director Emeritus of the World Health Organisation in, Prof. Gottlieb Monekosso, also attended the ceremony.Talking on the importance of traditional medicine, he said, The African Traditional Medicine Day was instituted in 2003. "When I was Public Health Minister, was the first to prepare a draft law and sent to parliament. But, unfortunately, it is more than ten years now and a law is yet to be enacted regulating traditional medicine practice.

"We did a lot to promote African Traditional Medicine. You must understand that there is no law preventing any one from practising traditional medicine," says Prof. Monekosso. He added that, today, traditional medicine is being practised by those who inherited it from their parents and the absence of the law guiding the practise gives room for charlatans. "There are many charlatans who have invaded the profession just to make money. At first, traditional practitioners practise only within their village and community, but now you see them criss-crossing the country. Those who go from Ngaoundere to Yaounde and so on, in the name of traditional practitioners are charlatans," Prof. Monekosso maintained.