Government
officials in Guyana announced Friday that they were drafting
regulations for alternative healers who promise cures for
cancer, AIDS, and other diseases with potions and
herbs found in the Amazon River area.
The growing ranks
of herbalists peddling their cures nightly on TV have
raised safety concerns for the South American country's
government, which announced it was seeking to demand a
minimum level of training for practitioners. ''It is a
wild, wild west out there that must be regulated,''
said health minister Leslie Ramsammy, who noted that some
claim a ''divine right'' to heal as their only medical
qualification. Herbs from the rainforest near the
English-speaking country's borders with Venezuela and
Brazil have been used to treat ailments ranging from
snakebites to arthritis. Some specialists market their
concoctions by claiming the ingredients are popular
among the Amerindian communities in the interior.
Harold Peters,
the chief executive of Guyana Rainforest Herbs, said he
believes oversight will validate alternative practices and
lead to integration with conventional medicine. He
dismissed fears voiced elsewhere that the government
aims to squash the industry. ''It's a step in the
right direction,'' said Peters, whose company develops and
sells herbal treatments for prostate ailments,
infertility, and sexual dysfunction. (AP)
