How Not to Compare Western Scientific Medicine With African Traditional Medicine

Abstract

In his commentary on Aceme Nyika's paper 'Ethical and Regulatory Issues Surrounding African Traditional Medicine in the Context of HIV/AIDS',1 Godfrey B. Tangwa charges the author with inappropriately using expressions, terminology and criteria of evaluation appropriate in Western scientific medicine to judge African traditional medicine (TM). He seriously frowns on Nyika?s suggestion that African TM needs to be incorporated into, and subjected to the canons of Western scientific medicine. Such a suggestion, he believes, is a prescription for invasion, colonization and exploitation so characteristic of the relationship between Africa and the Western world. However, he thinks that African TM is quite compatible with Western scientific medicine.