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)
