Traditional healers in Zambia and their care for patients with urethral/vaginal discharge

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the knowledge and practice s of traditional healers in relation to the management of patients with ure thral/vaginal discharge. Subjects and method: Eighty (80) traditional healers, 54 from an urban and 26 from a rural setting in Zambia, who attend to patients with urethral/vag inal discharge, were interviewed using a semistructured questionnaire. Result: All of the traditional healers had knowledge of urethral/vaginal di scharge being a symptom of a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and that in dividuals get the infection through sexual relations with infected persons. The healers were all able to cite other symptoms associated with urethral/ vaginal discharge. The treatment the healers used was mostly herbal prepara tions in the form of roots or powders administered orally to induce diarrhe a, vomiting,, and diuresis. Patients were not allowed to combine traditiona l and biomedical therapies. Almost half of the healers did apply some biome dical practices in the management of patients with urethral/vaginal dischar ge, such as history taking and examination of patients before diagnosis and prescription. The healers also advised patients to avoid sex while on trea tment and to avoid reinfection by remaining with one partner and using cond oms. Some healers advised their patients to bring their sexual partners for consultation. Conclusion: Because traditional healers attend to patients with STDs, both in rural and urban areas, efforts should be made to promote cooperation bet ween traditional and biomedical health care providers, so that treatment of patients and their partners could be improved. Traditional management that concurs with biomedical practices could thus be a starting point for discu ssion and cooperation.