News / Health
Dr Parirenyatwa warns prophets
07 Dec 2014 at 08:24hrs | Views
THE Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa, has warned traditional and faith healers against misleading people by claiming that they had powers to heal HIV.
Dr Parirenyatwa said in as much as Government recognised the presence of faith healers in the country and respected the freedom of worship, it did not tolerate prophets who compromised people's health by hoodwinking them into dumping their medicine for "holy potions".
The health minister read the riot act while making his keynote address at the African Union World Aids Day commemorations held in Victoria Falls on Monday last week.
His remarks come in the wake of numerous sensational claims by traditional healers and prophets that they had the powers to cure HIV, a virus that has been scientifically proven to be incurable.
"Some prophets claim that they can pray away HIV, Ah! That's dangerously misleading. We have heard of such claims by some prophets who then hoodwink people into quitting medication.
"HIV is just as good as any other chronic condition which requires one to continuously take their medication. We don't discourage people from seeking spiritual help. Let the pastors and prophets pray for you but never be tempted to stop taking your medication," he warned.
Dr Parirenyatwa's warning was echoed by a local pastor who while giving the closing prayer during the commemorations urged people to continue taking their medication even after they would have been prayed for by their pastors.
He said pastors and prophets had no authority to declare someone healed of any disease as they were not medical experts, urging people to take advice on their health only from qualified personnel.
"Even when Jesus healed people in the Bible, he would always refer those people to physicians. If a pastor claims to have healed you, go to your doctor and consult. Only doctors can tell you that you have been healed because they are the ones who would have detected the virus in the first place and not the pastors," he said.
Dr Parirenyatwa went on to touch on the sale of ARVs on the black market urging people to desist from buying medicine from unauthorised sources.
The health minister also spoke against the abuse of ARVs by people who are mixing them with other drugs to make intoxicating substances.
Dr Parirenyatwa's remarks come in the wake of reports that ARVs smuggled from Zambia had flooded the local black market and were being sold cheap.
Investigations by Sunday News earlier this year also unearthed that some drug dealers were mixing ARVs with rat poison and heroin to make an intoxicating drug called nyaope.
"We also hear of stories about ARVs being sold on the black market. Again that is dangerous. Why buy drugs from the black market and risk buying expired drugs when the medicine is available on the formal market.
"We discourage buying of ARVs on the informal market and we would also want to investigate how these drugs are ending up in the hands of unauthorised retailers.
"These ARVs that are found on the black market are also said to be used to make intoxicating drugs. It's yet another issue we have to investigate," he said.
Dr Parirenyatwa said the country had made significant progress in the fight against HIV/Aids, pointing out the recent injection of funds into private sector pharmacies, leading to the sharp decline in prices of ARVs, as a notable achievement.
He said in spite of the notable achievements in fighting HIV, the country needed to stay vigilant and continue scaling up efforts to eradicate the disease.
This year's African Union World Aids Day Commemorations ran under the theme "Getting to Zero in Africa- Africa's Responsibility, Everyone's Responsibility, resonating with the global theme (2012-15) Getting to Zero-Zero new HIV infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero Aids-Related deaths".
High ranking officials from over 40 African countries and various donor agencies attended the event, the third of its kind on the continent.
The African Union Commission was represented by its Commissioner for Social Affairs Dr Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko.
Dr Parirenyatwa said in as much as Government recognised the presence of faith healers in the country and respected the freedom of worship, it did not tolerate prophets who compromised people's health by hoodwinking them into dumping their medicine for "holy potions".
The health minister read the riot act while making his keynote address at the African Union World Aids Day commemorations held in Victoria Falls on Monday last week.
His remarks come in the wake of numerous sensational claims by traditional healers and prophets that they had the powers to cure HIV, a virus that has been scientifically proven to be incurable.
"Some prophets claim that they can pray away HIV, Ah! That's dangerously misleading. We have heard of such claims by some prophets who then hoodwink people into quitting medication.
"HIV is just as good as any other chronic condition which requires one to continuously take their medication. We don't discourage people from seeking spiritual help. Let the pastors and prophets pray for you but never be tempted to stop taking your medication," he warned.
Dr Parirenyatwa's warning was echoed by a local pastor who while giving the closing prayer during the commemorations urged people to continue taking their medication even after they would have been prayed for by their pastors.
He said pastors and prophets had no authority to declare someone healed of any disease as they were not medical experts, urging people to take advice on their health only from qualified personnel.
"Even when Jesus healed people in the Bible, he would always refer those people to physicians. If a pastor claims to have healed you, go to your doctor and consult. Only doctors can tell you that you have been healed because they are the ones who would have detected the virus in the first place and not the pastors," he said.
Dr Parirenyatwa went on to touch on the sale of ARVs on the black market urging people to desist from buying medicine from unauthorised sources.
Dr Parirenyatwa's remarks come in the wake of reports that ARVs smuggled from Zambia had flooded the local black market and were being sold cheap.
Investigations by Sunday News earlier this year also unearthed that some drug dealers were mixing ARVs with rat poison and heroin to make an intoxicating drug called nyaope.
"We also hear of stories about ARVs being sold on the black market. Again that is dangerous. Why buy drugs from the black market and risk buying expired drugs when the medicine is available on the formal market.
"We discourage buying of ARVs on the informal market and we would also want to investigate how these drugs are ending up in the hands of unauthorised retailers.
"These ARVs that are found on the black market are also said to be used to make intoxicating drugs. It's yet another issue we have to investigate," he said.
Dr Parirenyatwa said the country had made significant progress in the fight against HIV/Aids, pointing out the recent injection of funds into private sector pharmacies, leading to the sharp decline in prices of ARVs, as a notable achievement.
He said in spite of the notable achievements in fighting HIV, the country needed to stay vigilant and continue scaling up efforts to eradicate the disease.
This year's African Union World Aids Day Commemorations ran under the theme "Getting to Zero in Africa- Africa's Responsibility, Everyone's Responsibility, resonating with the global theme (2012-15) Getting to Zero-Zero new HIV infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero Aids-Related deaths".
High ranking officials from over 40 African countries and various donor agencies attended the event, the third of its kind on the continent.
The African Union Commission was represented by its Commissioner for Social Affairs Dr Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko.
Source - Sunday News
