Partner

THETA

• aca
• February 16, 2014

THETA was born  out of an initiative  of three individuals; Dr. Kalibala, Dr. Rachael King and Dr. Jaco Homsy who saw the  the value of involving Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) in the fight against HIV/AIDS given their role as health care providers, educators and counselors.

In 1992, THETA designed the first clinical study to evaluate the effectiveness  herbal medicine in treating AIDS related chronic wasting, chronic diarrhea and herpes zoster as alternatives to then  bio-medical treatment. The clinical study revealed significant improvement in some patients on herbal medicine treatment compared to the then  biomedical treatments. The findings of this study become a great motivation to the THETA team leading to the design of other related projects.

In 1993, THETA designed a project called THEWA (Traditional Heath Practitioners, Women and AIDS Prevention). The project was started after the realization that traditional health practitioners who participated in the first clinical study faced challenges in counseling patients with  HIV/AIDS. The project aimed at strengthening the skills of  THPs as HIV/AIDS as HIV and AIDS counselors. The success of THEWA project motivated the THETA team to initiate  community outreach  programmes underpinned by a collaborative partnership between the traditional health practitioners, the biomedical health system and the communities.

In 1995 THETA was registered as a Non Governmental Organization with a mission of fostering  a  collaboration between Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) and and Biomedical Health practitioners (BHPs) in health care and research. THETA’s philosophy then was based on the recognition that tradtional health practitioners are vital resource in the health of the communities.

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