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P.H.A.R.M.A.P.A.C.T |
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P.H.A.R.M.A.P.A.C.T |
AFRICAN MEDICINE ETHNOPIRACY BY THE STATE AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
None of the above-mentioned identified toxics are at all covered in the South African Traditional Healer’s Primary Health Care Handbook, based on the TramedF database and produced by the Medical Research Council and the Traditional Medicines Research Group (TMRG)ª of the Universities of Cape Town and of the Western Cape. Prof Eagles, Head of the Pharmacy School, UWC, as one of three tiers of the TMRG and who was and is again the vice Chairperson of the MCCY /MRA, is also, with du Plooy, an influential member of the Traditional Medicines Working Group, National Reference Centre (NRC)§ .
We have to protest, that the forgoing facts having been determined, and the regulatory authorities repeatedly exposed thereto, as well as to that which follows, they who were/are mandated to protect the public from toxic medicines were/are presented with a golden opportunity to educate prescribers, suppliers and consumers regarding which plants were/are most seriously implicated, as well as dose, contra-indications, precautionaries, early and advanced poisoning symptoms etc, a golden opportunity squandered by all concerned, especially the MCCy , via access to the Traditional Medicines Project (TRAMED)F /TMRGª with Folb / Schlebusch / Bruchner, and now Eagles / Rees / Matsoso at the helm.
Shockingly little or nothing has been done about this unacceptable situation, least of all by those who over the period that this information has been directly available to them and who have been directing MCCy policy under the shallow guise, repeated ad nauseam, of being the custodians of public safety from toxic medicines and insisting that they have been empowered to control all substances matching the enacted definition of a medicine. The previous, transitional and new authority bear legal responsibility.
We are presently engaged in ongoing culpability investigations for gross dereliction of public duty and genocide against Professors Schlebusch and especially Folb and in the latter's case, a further enquiry into ethnopiracy, since Folb has directorship at the University of Cape Town of the Dept. of Pharmacology, the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Drug Policy (WHOCCDP); and the Traditional Medicines ProgrammeF and so was better positioned than anyone to be aware of these shocking circumstances and especially as chairman of the MCCy , to have been doing something meaningful about them. Eagles also faces similar investigation, now approximating the position previously held by Folb.
Instead of using the 60,000 entry TRAMEDF database available to the WHOCCDP to "monitor all adverse reactions to medicines in South Africa, investigate national problems of drug toxicity, recommend policy in this regard and encourage the rational and safe use of medicines, including traditional medicines, to address an important and comparatively neglected scientific research and public health field, and to establish the rational and safe use of traditional medicines", the facilities are "presently engaged in large amounts of research based upon the extraction and isolation of active compounds from plants used by traditional healers in the treatment of disease." (Homepage:University of Cape Town, Dept of Pharmacology)
Students from indigenous backgrounds are now pushing for proper codes of conduct. (Sunday Times, 2/2/99)
Ethnopiracy projects at TramedF include: "Natalie Brine – anti-malarial compounds from plants; Sandra de Klerk anti-malarial activity present in plant mixtures used by traditional healers; Motalepula Gilbert Matsabisa – ethno-pharmacology in drug development; investigation of the anti-malarial activity of indigenous Southern African plants; Siyabulela Calvin Ntutela – efficacy of plants used in traditional treatment of tuberculosis; Portia Rachaka - potentiation of immune response by traditional herbal remedies (Homepage: University of Cape Town, Dept of Pharmacology); also "Malaria is the focus of research UCT’s Pharmacology Department, where Dr Pete Smith has examined plants used by traditional healers for treating fever." (Diana Streak, Fair Lady, Sept 1995); Matsabisa is testing plants discovered by traditional healers in KwaZulu–Natal in treating malaria." (Sunday Times, 21 March 1991); More recently:"the Traditional Medicines Research Group at UCT sent a Masters student to a hi-tech laboratory in Barcelona that can analyse plant material much faster than in SA. One was obtained from the Durban herb market and the other is widely used throughout South Africa." (Claire Bisseker, Financial Mail, 19 Mar 1999); "Dr Karen Barnes, a clinical pharmacologist (?) supervised clinical trials of the drug in a high-risk area in KZN. Sibongile Pefile’s area of research involves the use of plants to treat viral skin disorders." Laurice Taitz, Sunday Times, 2 May 1999)
The Traditional Medicines Project (Tramed)F is based on a database donated by Noristan Laboratories to the University of Cape Town’s Pharmacology Department to be incorporated into a national database to which all interested parties can have access. (Lindy Hughson, editor, Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Review, July/August 1995); The project has since 1995 been assisted by Dr T Felhaber, supported by a Fellowship from SA Druggists, and since 1991, Isaac Mayeng, supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council (MRC)¨ . Mayeng is now employed full-time as senior medicines control officer with the MCCY /MRA, in serious vested interest conflict with his commercial ventures. This project had its genesis at a the 28th Annual Congress of the South African Pharmacology Society on the 24 September, 1994, at which most of the ethnopirates mentioned here were present. (Nigel Gericke, Tramed, Indigenous Plant Use Newsletter, November, 1994); Noristan Laboratories, who originally donated the database to UCT have subsequently been acquired by Hoechst, giving the global drugs cartel right of access to the vastly expanded database.
The database has had added, a substantial collection of information on traditional medicine donated by the Hans Snyckers Institute of the Medical School, Univ Pretoria. Further collaboration exists with Dr Anne Hutchings (ex-Univ Zululand), Prof Wimpie du Plooy’s Dept of Pharmacology at Medunsaf , Dr Carl Albrecht at the Dept of Pharmacology and Dr Michael Becker at the Dept of Virology, both at the Medical School, Univ Stellenbosch. Dr David Gammon, Dept of Chemistry, UCT, is "collaborating with the Dept of Pharmacology in the investigation of the biological activity of medicinal plants found in the southern African region, identified through traditional medicine." (UCT Dept of Chemistry homepage) Central to the TramedF programme from an early stage has been T/Drs Solomon Mahlaba and Isaac Mayeng. Both are major sell-outs, benefiting only themselves, as the ancestral knowledge of the nation is raped by commercial interests, whilst scientific feedback to the traditional healers as a whole has been negligible. As reward, both have enjoyed virtually proprietary access to the database for their own medicines businesses.
The statutory Medical Research Council (MRC)¨ are the logistical and funding backbone for these ventures, thereby directly implicating the State in these suspect ethnopiracy activities. Further projects elsewhere of which we are aware, besides Tramed and TMRG are: "MRC¨ -supported researchers at the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (du Plooy’s Department) at Medunsaf have analysed Devil's Claw, and compared its anti-inflammatory properties to fluticazone, a powerful cortisone-based anti-inflammatory." (MRC Annual Report, June 1998); Professor Olivier and colleagues are involved in an indigenous medicine database at the University of the North and especially the Rand Afrikaans and Free State Universities are networking closely with the TMRGª . More recently a consortium has been formed, comprising the CSIRÄ (specifically the Division of Food Science and Technology – Foodtek), MRC¨ , and the Universities of Cape Town, Western Cape and the North. Eddie Koch writes: "Almost every university now has research relating to traditional medicines in the pharmacy or other departments." (Electronic Mail&Guardian, undated)
Nigel Gericke, a medical practitioner, a member of the CMC, and the founder of TRAMEDF whilst working as phytomedicines development manager for SA Druggists, states in his CV that he continues to serve as consultant to TRAMED, including "ongoing research into side-effects" and "to encourage the safe use of indigenous medicinal plants, and the development of a database, including toxicology." In late 1995, at the request of Folb, as the MCCY , a study and recommendations were made by Gericke for the development of a South African approach, yet ironically no urgent regulatory action is being imposed on this sector, which by far represents the major, if not sole risk to public safety from natural health substances against which the MCCY /MRA claim to act when witch-hunting the international natural health substance traditions.
Dr. Gericke in the meantime developed his own commercial range of ethnopirated indigenous medicines (Healer's Choice brand) and with his senior at SAD, Bosch van Oudtshoorn, co-authored a recent book (Medicinal Plants of South Africa, Briza, 1997), (to "independently" promote their products?) developed from the TRAMEDF database, to which it gives no acknowledgement, nor to the traditional healers. Most irresponsibly this book does not even begin to address the above-mentioned vast toxicological problem, since for the majority of the 132 plants featured, in spite of significant toxicities, (besides the obligatory publisher’s indemnity) the book treats these as if they did not exist, except for occasionally mentioning that this or that isolate has toxicological potential, but largely from a commercial perspective.
A shockingly similar situation inexplicably exists with the recently published South African Traditional Healer's Primary Healthcare Handbook (UCT, 1997), also a product of the TRAMEDF Project, which, although it provides short token precautionaries for those toxics among the 55 plants featured, simply does not do justice in addressing the enormous problem of acute poisonings and fatalities arising from traditional African medicines. We have to question and protest the deliberate exclusion of an educational Toxics List, especially considering Folb’s above-mentioned statements regarding toxicity, and more recently, those of Eagles: "In favour of muti is that the cost is lower than that of allopathic medicines. Against it stands the risk of poisons, toxicity, counterfeits and chemical pollutants. If people aren’t enlightened about the dangers of mixing a handful of leaves together, the results can be uncontrollable". (Lee P, undated, Independent Online)
Some 3000 plants are in use, 10 % in major use, and of which the most toxic or those responsible for most of the serious poisonings and fatalities are not even featured or identified in these two publications, especially curious considering that they both have their genesis from within TRAMEDF , and against the claimed public safety interest, much of which is hypocritically regurgitated by Folb in the first paragraph of his forward to the manual. The authorities have no excuse to plead ignorance in defence of their callous inaction in the face of so much innocent human suffering and loss of life, since this is the primary responsibility of the Medicines Control Council, and the traditional African healers and sellers of herbal medicine are not directly to blame. The MCCy /MRA / DOH upper hierarchy bear legal responsibility, prior to and hereafter for every one of the many thousands of preventable deaths occurring from traditional medicine poisonings every year. This author will not rest until these problems are addressed.
In addition to TRAMEDF , is a Traditional Medicines Research Group (TMRG)ª which is a broader joint venture between the Medical Research Council, the Department of Pharmacology at UCT and the School of Pharmacy of the University of the Western Cape, which is also engaged in ethnopiracy testing of plant extracts at UCT, according to Dan Ncayiyana, Deputy Chancellor of UCT: "to isolate active compounds to develop new drugs." (Electronic Mail & Guardian, 19 Oct 1997); "The University of the Western Cape is testing plants for anti-tuberculosis properties". Dr Leng, chairperson of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry says "The plants we have selected for screening are ones already used by traditional healers." (Diana Streak, Back to our roots, Fair Lady, Sept 1995); It is no surprise that the person who was preferred by the MCCY to take over as Chairman in June 1998 was vice chairman, Professor P. Eagles, head of the UWC School of Pharmacy, who is currently expanding on Folb's ethnopiracy operation, and has taken over his role as a major influence (vice chair) on the Council. Eagles is also the influential chairperson of the NRC§ .
The Traditional Medicines Research Group (TMRG)ª was formed in 1997, after PHARMAPACT embarked on a concerted expose’ of Folb’s MCC regulatory double-standard in the light of his piracy TramedF Project, at which point center stage was shifted to UWC, with the strategic transfer of Mayeng to Eagle’s School of Pharmacy. The promotional media propaganda borders on the obsequious, but reading between the lines again reveals the phoney social rhetoric and cheap window-dressing, behind which the blatant ethnopiracy still festers, eg: "The TMRGª intends to glean information for the health benefit of all South Africans." The plot: "The group will use modern scientific and biomedical knowledge to investigate medicinal plant extracts and isolate bioactive compounds for developing more effective drugs." (The Monday Paper, UCT, February 24, 1997); The lie: "Researchers hope to collect information on Southern African medicinal plants and to use this knowledge to set safety standards regarding herbal remedies." (Electronic Mail & Guardian, March 4, 1997)
"Traditional healers seek recognition and scientific verification of their remedies. We want to gain their trust. What we will not do is use their intellectual property to make profits which do not benefit them An important objective will be to create a comprehensive traditional medicines database for use by traditional healers, policy makers, drug regulatory authorities, the pharmaceutical industry and the public." (See the lie!) "We are committed to making the database universally accessible." (MRC Press Release, 6 February 1997) Both the author, as a representative of the Western Cape Traditional Healers and Herbalists Association, and his research associate, T Dr Anthony Rees, as chairman of the South African Herbalists Association, and PHARMAPACT have been denied access to the database. Dr Phillip Kubukeli, President of the Western Cape Traditional Healers and Herbalists Association is recorded on a televised documentary (SABC, Options, 1998), as having never had access to the TramedF database to which he and his colleagues have so freely contributed. Why? Kubukeli has naively been collaborating with TramedF for years, handing over indigenous knowledge for an occasional hand-out and in the hope of recognition for the healer’s work. Kubukeli has stated that he "support(s) the idea of published research, since some herbs can be a hazard, so researching them will make us more sure that our medicine is safe, and our medicine will be acknowledged by the government, but fear(s) that by exposing too much, healers will be made redundant." (Diana Streak, Back to our roots, Fair Lady, Sept 1995); Sadly the Tramed collaboration has contributed more to the latter aspect, yet the naivety persists: "In my collaboration, we are working closely with Pharmacology departments in the study of the safety of our traditional medicines." (Presentation to PHARMAPACT’s Health Freedom SA Indaba, Knysna, June 1998)
It is not possible to reconcile the false promotional rhetoric with the unequivocal facts: Professor Eagles: "Our brief (National Drug Policy) was to investigate traditional medicines for toxicity, efficacy, safety and quality to incorporate them in the health care system, and be able to register and control them." It is quite clear that the MCC (TramedF via Folb, and now Eagles) and in particular in their "brief to establish a Complementary Medicines Committee (CMC), including all experts" for the aforementioned purpose have not succeeded, not in spite of, but because of the domination on this committee by the likes of Gericke, Mayeng and Mahlaba. Neither Mayeng, nor Mahlaba have true representative mandate by the majority of traditional healers, nor should they, because of their obvious financial vested interests be qualified for any policy or decision-making process, yet nevertheless both hold influential positions on the Traditional African Medicines Committee of the CMC and the Traditional Medicines Working Group of the National Reference Centre (NRC)§ , Dept of Health. Mayeng furthermore, since late 1998, is Senior Medicines Control Officer, Medicines Registration, and heads the transitional Complementary Medicines Section at MCCy /MRA.
T/Dr Solomon Mahlaba manufactures and markets his own extensive range of "finished, labelled and marketed" traditional African medicines, branded "UMUTI AMANDLA", which is known to the MCCy , this matter and that of traditional medicines manufactured by "Guideline Products" having been brought to the attention of the Registrar, Precious Matsoso and the Inspectorate. T/Dr Isaac Mayeng, in a recent book confirms his vested interest as follows: "I also have my own private herbal medicines production and supply business." Proof of his two-facedness is in his own words: "Some healers think that if they cooperate with the medicinal side, the government will pay them a salary. Well that can never happen. There needs to be (bank?) checks (cheques?) and balances. At the national level, the element of power and greed comes into play quickly." (Susan Schuster Campbell, "Called to Heal", Zebra Press, 1998)
Earlier self-prophetic truisms from Mayeng: "The companies are positioning themselves with the healers. These groups are interested in the markets the healer’s represent, not necessarily the healers themselves. Traditional healers have become sceptical of sharing their information, experience and data. Some healers have found their work published in journals under the name of their medical colleagues. Many healers feel, and rightly so, that their work has been stolen. Whenever there is a natural plant growing freely which improves a given disease, the pharmaceutical and scientific industries will prevent this herb from being widely distributed. The rules of the game demand that the active ingredients be isolated, synthesised, then packaged in such a way to sell to a mass market at great cost for the very medicine that was given in nature." (Schuster Campbell, 1998) As Eagles has stated: "A stumbling block in moving forward is apprehension among traditional healers about the benefits." (Gustav Theil, "Harvesting the curing power of plants". Mail&Guardian, March 4, 1997)
Hypocritically in February 1998, Mayeng advised the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health that "traditional medicine had to be regulated to ensure standardisation of herbal medicine, a code of conduct and ethics, the passing on of invaluable knowledge, and patenting" (Vuyo Mvoko, News, Business Day, 19 February, 1998), and in February 1999, Mayeng presented the fruits of this stolen heritage, the "TramedF Monographs" to the WHO in Geneva for the rest of the pharma-world to plunder, while South African consumer’s are poisoned to death in their thousands for lack of toxicological information. Mayeng now heads the section of the MCCy /MRA which aims to engage in both this and all the preceding activities he so hypocritically warned readers about in the preceding interview. (Susan Schuster Campbell, 1998); Mayeng was recently exposed as a fraud, when in response to a query whether the ICCÆ had been informed of the pending 26 February meeting, he claimed that the traditional healer’s were not interested, and that he had no contacts for them (a lie), only to pretend the next day to be taking the initiative in informing the ICCÆ of a critical meeting.
"Almost every African city, town and village has a thriving market for the tools of the (traditional) healer’s trade. In 1978, a United Nations-sponsored conference called for governments to look at incorporating traditional medicines into national health plans for the poor. Almost two decades later, growing awareness of benefits from traditional knowledge has affected the global pharmaceutical industry. New realities and a global shift toward natural remedies are bringing increased attention. Sometimes the "cure" is worse than the ailment. Throughout Africa, health officials and healers cite accidental poisoning as the biggest problem with traditional remedies. Governments seek to register and regulate their medicines. "All those words for (healers) are wrong", said Folb, chairman of the South African Medicines Control Council. A history of failed deals and unkept promises make African healers wary of foreigners promising big money for their secrets. Obstacles abound in getting the herbal remedies out of the African bush. Western pharmaceutical companies seek to test every known healing plant." (Tom Cohen, nando.net, Associated Press, October 18, 1997)
Traditional healers have accused the pharmaceutical industry of trying to muscle in on their lucrative natural herbal market. Witness Nigel Gericke: "There has been a huge swing to natural remedies and the potential for (industry in?) this country is enormous." Says Roger Stewart, new product development manager at SA Druggists, already involved in traditional herbal remedies and who are researching new product opportunities: "We believe that all medicines of this nature should comply with WHO guidelines." (Diane Streak, Fair Lady, September, 1995); Pharmacare, alias South African Druggists, was told by the Medicines Control Council (MCC) to stop making four cure-all herbal remedies sold as "Healers Choice" because of legislative constraints. The company refused. Meanwhile the MCC admits it has reached an impasse with SAD, which had failed to register the ingredients used in Healers Choice, as required by the national drug policy. "The natural-remedy market is worth some $16,5-billion world-wide and is growing at a phenomenal rate," says Rodney Hesketh-Mare, general manager of Pharmacare. "Local healers do not have a monopoly on these remedies. It may be that some healers will feel threatened, but we are approaching the market from a different angle, complementary to what is sold on the streets." (Angella Johnson, Electronic Mail&Guardian, May 11, 1998)
This did not satisfy Sipho Mndaweni, president of the Interim Co-ordinating Committee of Traditional Practitioners in South Africa (ICC)Æ who complained that "traditional healers and vendors may end up being squeezed out of the market" and who insisted that "South African Druggists is just testing the water before marketing more traditional medicines to be sold over the counter". Mndaweni says, "We won't see a cent of the vast profits they will make, even though people will buy these goods thinking it's the same as what we do." His committee has made submissions to Parliament for "some control over the trademark 'traditional medicines' and to stop this kind of abuse." (Angella Johnson, "Inyanga rage as drug groups muscle in!" Electronic Mail&Guardian, May 11, 1998); PHARMAPACT are in strategic alliance with the ICCÆ , monitoring, recording and reporting developments to our best ability with the documentation at our disposal.
"In the last few months at least four pharmaceutical companies have visited the downtown Johannesburg offices of the Traditional Doctor’s Association to ask for help in identifying plants that can be used to manufacture new drugs and medicines. This sudden interest in the pharmacopeia that South Africa’s healer’s have gathered over the centuries is part of a multi-billion dollar research drive by drug companies to learn the secrets of traditional healers around the world." (Eddie Koch, undated electronic Mail&Guardian article, "The allure of the traditional cure: Multinational pharmaceutical companies scrambling to tap wisdom") This is nothing new; the process having been started by the multinational companies, (including Noristan) some 20 years ago. (Safowora A, Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine in Africa, John Wiley & Sons, 1982)
Worst of all is that this ethnopiracy is happening in our own back yard, with State support via the Dept of Health and Medical Research Council¨ . Witness the following report-back from one of these meetings and then an example of the rape of the traditional African medicine heritage by a consortium of most of the above-mentioned names and institutions, spearheaded by the statutory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)Ä , headed by Dr M Horak, team-leader of the Database Working Group of the Traditional Medicine Working Group of the NRC§ , with the full co-operation of Eagles, Matsoso, Makhambene, de Wet and Mayeng, all of the MCCy , Walters of the MRC¨ , Bannenberg and Peteni of the DoH, and du Plooy of Medunsaf , plus Mahlaba and others. Nothing is being done about the tens of thousands of fatal poisonings and untold morbidities, fearing non-co-operation by healers on the "claims for cures" scam.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINES WORKING GROUP: NATIONAL REFERENCE CENTRE
At the first meeting it was decided that "Different rules and regulations would apply or be needed to address differences in the supply of traditional medicines to patients. 1) Traditional medicines commercially available (manufactured, and packaged to be sold in retail outlets); 2) Traditional medicines prepared by a healer for a specific patient on an individual name basis." At the next meeting, "the involvement of the MCCy centred on claims of a cure for some conditions. The moment a plant is claimed to cure a disease it can be legislated as a medicine. Current definitions of safety and efficacy will be revisited. Safety and some efficacy have partially been addressed by the fact that it has been given to patients for years. The major difference is between the individual use of a product and the bulk distribution and sale thereof. Safety needs to be addressed if a product is sold in bulk." (NRC§ 4 June 1997); "The MCCy is concerned with medicines of plant origin being pre-packed and sold in shops and not with one-on-one treatment of a patient. It also concerns the issue of herbs being sold on the pavement in certain cities." (NRC§ 11 Sept 1997)
REPORT-BACK REGARDING THE LEGAL ISSUES WORKING GROUP OF THE NATIONAL REFERENCE CENTRE § FOR TRADITIONAL MEDICINES, NATIONAL DRUGS POLICY,
HALLMARK BUILDING, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, PRETORIA. 2 JUNE 1998. By Stuart Thomson.
(This report was prepared for PHARMAPACT, the Interim Co-ordinating Committee of Traditional Medical Practitioners of South Africa (ICC)Æ , and the Western Cape Traditional Healers and Herbalists Association)
The NRC§ for Traditional Medicines is a facilitating initiative of the Department of Health, arising out of the National Drug Policy for South Africa. The stated aim is to "investigate the use of effective and safe traditional medicines at primary level." As per the WHO, "traditional medicines will be investigated for efficacy, safety and quality with a view to incorporate their use in the health care system". Quite clearly, the traditional healers are not central to the plan in the long term, only their medicines are of real interest. Most revealing of all is the unequivocal statement that "Marketed medicines will be registered and controlled". A further insight is obtained from the outline of the functions of the reference centre which these working group meetings are busy establishing and which will include: "development of a national database of indigenous plants screened for efficacy and toxicity; testing for efficacy and toxicity."
Who exactly is running the show? Certainly not the traditional healers, though there are a fair share of non-representative opportunists and naïve stooges providing the obligatory window dressing, including in this instance: T/Drs. Simon Mhlaba (Natal Nyanga's Assoc.), Seth Seroka (African National Healer's Assoc.), and Isaac Mayeng (Tramso - Trad Med Syst Org), Prof. Folb's stooge as strategic liaison person for the traditional healers. Significantly all are on the equally non-representative and non-democratic African Traditional Medicine Sub-Committee of the Complementary Medicines Committee of the MCCy . This concentration of influence on both forums illustrates either the deliberate selective nature of the canvassing for participants, or lack of support by the majority. There are otherwise only a handful of collaborating traditional healer opportunists, all in all, in about 20% minority to the academics and others.
Having lined-up the window dressing, the reminder of non-traditional healer Europeans at the meeting ensured that the group-leader would be Dr. Nico Walters of the Medical Research Council¨ , Cape Town (speciality: indigenous technology), who acknowledged to me prior to the meeting that he was part of Professor Folb's team (and one of the tiers in the Traditional Medicines Research Group (TMRG)ª , including Folb's UCT Pharmacology Dept. and Prof. Eagles UWC Pharmacy Dept.). The MRC¨ are closely involved with the WHO Collaborating Centres for Drug Policy and actively support the ethnopiracy operations of Professors Folb, Eagles and du Plooy by way of financial grants. The MRC¨ pride the TMRGª with "using modern scientific and biomedical knowledge to investigate medicinal plant extracts and to isolate boiactive compounds for developing safer and more effective drugs".
Also prominently involved was the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research's (CSIR) Ä Dr. R. Marthinus Horak, who quite frustrated, informatively pointedly reminded all that "the focus was not intended to be traditional healers, but rather traditional medicines". Dr. Horak is the Manager of the Chemical and Microbial Products (CMP) Programme of Foodtek at the CSIR Ä . "The CMP Programme (in their own words) recently launched a major bioprospecting project that is aimed at investigating most of the 23,000 South African indigenous plants for pharmaceutically active compounds, which plant extracts are to be tested by the by the CMP Programme." (Bulletin of the Pl. Pr. Res. Inst. Autumn1998).
Seeing this hopeless trend following that of the selective CMC nominations debacle, I, for the record, formally protested that the proceedings constituted a sham of representativeness and democracy and a set-up favouring vested interests, since those accepting nomination to a steering committee to decide the fate of millions were not public representatives, nor did they have a mandate to represent all, or most traditional healers. The convening Chairperson, Lulu Peteni, Deputy Director, Essential Drugs Programme, ruled me out of order, claiming that the only mandate given this group by the earlier group meeting was to elect the steering committee and to establish terms of reference for the future work of that committee which would meet frequently and the present work group which would meet infrequently, the usual autocratic top-down approach.
I protested that none of the meetings were truly representative, or democratic, since they were not called by public notice. Peteni replied that the 1996 National Drug Policy publication represented public notice, which I protested was absurd and was left no alternative other than to withdraw from the unconstitutional proceedings and merely observe. Before the close of the meeting, I protested the fact that the toxicity issues were being ignored, and requesting that my written submission be officially entered into the record and next agenda, to which I was advised that I should take up my objections with the Dept. of Health and that since my submission did not bear a signature, (just my name), it did not constitute a legal document.
Similar objections were recorded in the minutes of the June 97 Reference Centre meeting. At the recent meeting, members of Chief Gcaleka's group in particular, expressed concerns that their ancestor's gifts would be exploited, if not suppressed by the medical institutions, and T/Dr. Simon Mhalaba expressed his wariness of the database. Mayeng, Folb and Eagle's main collaborator, who has unique proprietary access, simply dismisses these issues with unsubstantiated assurances that "all the healer's fears will be taken care of". Most of the healers are naïve as to the money driven ruthlessness of the academic and pharmaceutical interests which are herding them and their ancestoral wisdom and knowledge into a system established to prostitute these and expropriate their collective 2 billion Rand crude market in indigenous herbs.
The plan is clearly not to serve the healer, contrary to common belief. The minutes of the initial meeting state that "the Centre will concern itself with the study of plants with medicinal properties" and that "other issues concerning traditional healers do not fall within the mission of the Centre". It is generally not appreciated that these initiatives were conceived and instigated by the old regime in precisely the way which would cause the least suspicion, and were strategically implemented at the time of political transition, so that when the process started, it would appear to be a trustworthy initiative of the people's government.
The aim for the traditional healers is to have them willingly part with their knowledge, previously via "database collaboration", and now via the new trap of "registering claims for cures". There is nebulous talk of protecting intellectual property rights, non-disclosure documents, and contracts to deal with claims, but these are rendered clearer by the necessary talk of "financial incentives for drug leads given to companies", "contracts between companies and healers" and "claims at universities to constitute claims". Peteni revealed that "the function of the Centre was to acquire good quality information and to act as a clearing-house, leaving the rest up to the institutions". Besides the MCC, MRC and CSIR, virtually every university has representation, usually their pharmacology and / or pharmacy departments.
The further aim is to expropriate and pharmaceuticalise the local market and exploit the active principles internationally via patented synthesised derivatives, with little or no return for the African people. The June 1997 minutes acknowledge that "traditional medicines are of economic importance and are seen as an important source of drug leads for pharmaceutical companies". The key to understanding the take-over is contained in statements such as "only widely accepted plants will be accepted into the formulary", "safety needs to be addressed if a product is sold in bulk", "once the chemical research is done, new intellectual property rights can be registered", "discoveries need to be patented to ensure that the discoverer benefits from further development by pharmaceutical companies", and "patenting is a costly process". These issues raise the hurdles to the extent that only pharmaceutical interests with their resources and not the healers / vendors can legally participate in prospering from their ancestoral legacy.
Also from the minutes of the Traditional Medicines Working Group is a direct reference to vested interests: "The centre will not only encompass the MCCY but other organisations like the CSIR Ä and MRC¨ will be included as partners. The CSIR Ä is currently in a consortium with other institutes, busy with "bioprospecting". In 10 years the group wants to scrutinise 80% of indigenous medicinal plants. There was a concern that the CSIR Ä has a financial interest and could take over the market. The CSIR is a national research institute, owned by the government and is as such not profit orientated." (NRC 11 September, 1997)
Let us now briefly investigate this totally fraudulent concept and claim of "non-profit bioprospecting": The CSIRÄ ’s Bioprospecting project aims to "investigate most of SA’s indigenous plants for commercially valuable properties. We will strive to add value to indigenous knowledge through scientific investigation of eg traditional medicines derived from plants, in close collaboration with traditional healers, legal advisors and policy-makers, to develop equitable collaboration, subject to agreements which define confidentiality, intellectual property rights and reciprocity". Please bear in mind that traditional ancestral knowledge belongs to no one individual or group of individuals, but to whole communities! To claim such information for oneself and sell it is clearly theft and fraud and should be punishable by both civil and traditional court. Legitimately only a unanimous community can make such a decision. Foodtek, the CSIRÄ department where the Bioprospecting project is resident, claims that "throughout this process, we will ensure the equitable sharing of benefits between all parties involved, the intellectual property of participants, in particular sharers of indigenous knowledge, is respected and safeguarded". (Foodtek Homepage 1998) Clearly however, if the true owner’s are not participants, the thief (healer) is not only paid for stolen property, but has their identity and knowledge of their crime safeguarded by the receiving accomplice (CSIRÄ ).
Claims to "take account of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples and provide partnerships which will permit communities to benefit from their indigenous knowledge" (Foodtek Homepage 1998), are clearly just false public relations rhetoric, being as they are, irreconcilable with the facts, eg: " The discovery, development, world-wide patenting and licensing of an appetite suppressant derived from an indigenous plant by Horak and his colleagues at CSIR-Foodtek gave impetus to the establishment of the Bioprospecting consortium. The product is to be commercialised as a prescription medicine. A licensing agreement for development and commercialisation has been signed between the CSIR and the UK-based company, Phytopharm. Pfizer, is funding the construction of a FDA-approved clinical supplies unit at CSIRÄ for the manufacture of P57, to be used in clinical trials". ("Bioprospecting breakthrough", Pharmaceutical & Cosmetic Review – Nov/Dec 1998)
"Under the agreement, Pfizer has acquired an exclusive world-wide licence to develop and market P57. Phytopharm will receive up to 32 million Dollars in license fees and milestone payments based upon the achievement of specific objectives. In addition, Pfizer will make at least 7 million Dollars in contributions in an early development programme to be carried out by Phytopharm, who will also receive royalties on sales of P57 by Pfizer. Financial Advisors: NM Rothchilds & Sons Ltd." (Press release, Phytopharm Homepage, Aug 1998); "The company did not name the plant to protect "its" intellectual property. Financial terms of the deal with the CSIR were also not disclosed". (Cape Times, Business Times, 24 Jun 1997); "CSIRÄ scientists refused to divulge the species of the miracle indigenous plant code-named P57. American drug company Pfizer bought exclusive rights to market P57 in an estimated R 240 million deal". (A Baleta, Sunday Argus 3/4 Oct 1998); "Neither company was prepared to name the herb, which has been dubbed P57. Stuart Thomson: These companies come here, flash their money around, and for a few measly bucks, convince traditional healers to hand over ancestral knowledge." (L Taitz, "SA flower power for Viagra giant: Accusations of ‘ethno-piracy’ as Northern Cape plant is targeted for use in weight-loss drug", Sunday Times, Aug 1998)
This herb, ghaap (Asclepiadaceae) has for centuries been used by the African, Bushman, Hottentot, Nama, settler and colonist for diverse medicinal purposes, and "for the assuage of both hunger and thirst". (Marloth R, quoted by Smith C, Botanical Survey Memoir No 35, Dept Agric Tech Services, 1966) Note that Horak claims that "When we deal with the custodians of this information we see them as peers and we respect their knowledge." Note the double-speak as Horak cannot resist grabbing all the glory for himself, when he goes on to state: "In South Africa you are at the top of your field in science when you publish 25 journal articles and a few books. In Europe the top scientists have frames on the wall with the drugs ‘they’ discovered behind glass. That’s what I am looking forward to." (Laurice Taitz, Sunday Times, 2 May 1999) People such as this, including those mentioned in industry, academia and the government are plagiarists, frauds and thieves.
The Bioprospecting Programme is supported by the activities of a South African based consortium, managed by CSIRÄ -Foodtek under its Chemical and Microbial Products Programme (CMP) by Dr Marthinus Horak. Consortium members currently include numerous parastatals and significantly the MRC¨ , and the universities of Cape Town (Folb), The North and Western Cape (Eagles), in collaboration with government departments and policy makers. This is clearly a case of "State genocide and ethnopiracy against the African people".
Let us examine the State’s mandate regarding health, from their principal official guidance documents:
While "Act 101/1965 provides for the establishment of a The Medicines Control Council for the control of medicines" (Medicines and Related Substances Control Act No.101 of 1965), the specifics are internationally established as "The Council is mandated to serve the public interest in the regulation and control of the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines. Because most of South Africa’s population lives in conditions more akin to the developing world, it is important to examine whether the country is optimally served by the established system". (Folb P et al, "Drug regulation in South Africa", J Clin Phamacol, 1988 Sep; 28(9)); "The Council was created by Parliament for the purpose of ensuring the quality, efficacy and safety of medicines available to the public." (Folb P, Schlebusch J, "The regulation of medicines in South Africa", SAMJ 1989, 16 Dec;76); "In terms of the Act, the Council has the mandate to ensure that the medicines available to the South African public are safe and in the public interest. The Council may take into account only the scientific data available." (Folb P, "The registration and control of medicines in SA", Med Law 1991; 0(6))
The ruling African National Congress party’s National Health Plan states as follows: "Guiding Principles: Every person has the right to achieve optimum health, and it is the responsibility of the state to provide the conditions to achieve this. The ANC is committed to the promotion of health through prevention and education. All racial, ethnic, tribal and gender discrimination will be eradicated. There will be a (priority) focus on the prevention and control of major risk factors and diseases. Drugs Policy: Only drugs shown by analysis to be safe and of acceptable quality and efficacy will be marketed. A special committee will investigate the safety and efficacy and potential benefit of traditional drugs. A regulatory body for traditional medicine will be established." (A National Health Plan for South Africa, African National Congress, Johannesburg, May 1994)
The National Drug Policy for South Africa has as it’s stated "Health Objectives: To ensure the safety, efficacy and quality of drugs; ensure good dispensing and prescribing practices; promote the rational use of drugs by prescribers, dispensers and patients through the provision of the necessary training, education and information; promote individual responsibility for health, preventive care and informed decision making. Legislation & Regulations: To ensure that drugs reaching patients are safe, effective and meet approved standards and specifications. Only drugs, which are registered in South Africa, may be imported, produced, stored, exported and sold. ‘Marketed’ traditional medicines will be investigated for safety and quality. ‘Marketed’ traditional medicines will be registered and controlled. Rational use of Drugs: To promote rational prescribing, dispensing and use of drugs by personnel and to support the informed and appropriate use of drugs by the community". (National Drug Policy for South Africa, Department of Health, January 1996)
Oxford Dictionary definition of the word "market": n. Be offered for sale; v. Buy or sell in market; v.t. Sell (goods) in market or elsewhere. (The Concise Oxford Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 6th Edn 1975)
"The National Drug Policy (NDP) is the South African Government’s plan for the rational and economic use of drugs in the country." (National Drug Policy for South Africa 1996) The South African Drug Action Programme (SADAP) was envisaged to ensure the implementation of the NDP, (including) major changes to legislation such as to the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act. (Summers R, Suleman F. Drug Policy and Pharmaceuticals, in South African Health Review 1996, HST, HJKFF 1996); "The NDP aims to promote rational prescribing, dispensing and use of drugs by all health workers and the public. Emphasis is on education, training, and the provision of drug information and appropriate prescribing and dispensing. Dr W Bannenberg was appointed SADAP Director from 1997. The WHO Collaborating Centre on Drug Policy, Information and Safety Monitoring at the UCT (Department of Pharmacology) and UWC (School of Pharmacy) run courses promoting Rational Drug Use." (Gray A, Eagles P, CH 10, "Drug Policy", in The South African Health Review 1997, Health Systems Trust and the Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation, 1997)
Professors Folb and Eagles who are the most informed and influential educators and policy makers as far as medicines regulation and the toxicity of traditional African medicines are concerned, are leading these genocide / ethnopiracy operations. Educational courses for traditional healers? No way. They are not interested in the thousands of annual deaths and morbidities from medicines under their jurisdiction, they are more focussed on the academic prestige and millions of Rands to be made from ethnopirated traditional African medicinal substances for the patent and synthesis of mass-market First World drugs.
The Medicines Regulatory Review, rather than strengthening the public safety mandate in it’s recommended overhaul of the regulatory system, actually furthers the erosion of the above-mentioned lofty, albeit never realised mandate of "public interest", by not stating strongly enough the problem of traditional African medicines toxicity, in spite of its recognition that "South Africa is faced with many purely national issues, including the massive challenge of African traditional drugs." (The Medicines Regulatory System in South Africa: Review and proposals for reform. Dept of Health, 24 March 1998); This report was prepared by Prof Dukes and Dr Hill from Norway and Australia, from whence the Listing System originated and mutated to an electronic form, and from whence it was exported to South Africa, in spite of it being hopelessly inadequate to address the traditional African medicines toxicity crisis which we strongly brought to the attention of the team, which once again included Summers and Bannenberg, as well as the Director-General, Health, Dr Ntsaluba.
Significantly, the Review never recommended that only "marketed" medicines be regulated, but it appears that this rather weakly stated aspect has been deliberately capitalised on by the Medicines Regulatory Authority Transformation Task Team who, too timid to exercise bold responsibility, continue to promote the culturally and demographically inappropriate Listing System, and which team included, not surprisingly, Summers and Eagles, but also Rees, Matsoso and Makhambene. (Report of the Medicines Regulatory Authority Transformation Task Team, 17 July / 23 September 1998); The SAMMDRA Act also makes no distinction on the basis of the concept of only "marketed" medicines being subject to regulation (RSA. South African Medicines and Medical Devices Regulatory Authority Bill, B 114-98), so the distinction appears to be merely a cop-out by the regulatory authorities to avoid having to handle this political hot potato.
Consider the conclusions reached in the recent paper titled "The toxicology of African herbal medicines": "There is a need to explode the myth that all of these are safe. In South Africa there exists a window of opportunity for a serious examination and publication of the facts concerning the risks of using traditional herbal remedies. In addition, there needs to be a coming together of those interested in the toxic, as opposed to the beneficial aspects of traditional medicines." (Stewart M et al, Ther Drug Monit, 1998, Oct, 20(5)) Whilst PHARMAPACT have clearly taken the initiative regarding the former aspects, it is now up to the State to facilitate the remaining obligations of this recommendation, heretofore so shamefully neglected.
With some 10-20000 annual preventable deaths from traditional African medicines in South Africa, why have these often "fatally poisonous medicines" not been given toxicological precautionaries at every opportunity and "called-up" to protect consumers? # Many of these substances cross our borders from as far afield as Mozambique, Malawi, Swaziland and Tanzania, so why are the MCCy /MRA not similarly instructing the Customs officials to embargo these medicinal drugs at point of entry as with the relatively innocuous international health substances? # Why are MCCy / MRA inspectors not exercising their functions within the arena of the traditional African healers, herbal / muti shops and markets? Toxic medicines used by other practitioners, even individually, are scheduled and/or registerable. Why should SAMMDRA complementary regulations exempt and perpetuate the biggest killer category of all?
Are our African citizens not entitled to equal protection under SAMMDRA, or is genocide via deliberate inaction still alive and well through a sinister apartheid era plot to allow the poisoning of the unsuspecting African traditionalist, awkwardly exposed but allegiance to pharmaceutical ideology still taking preference over the mandate of "health for all"?
The bottom line is that for the Expedited Registration Procedure (Listing System) or any other regulatory policy to be implemented, it will have to include the African traditional medicines, or face constitutional challenges, criminal charges and civil action against the enforcing authority, in addition to charges of genocide. If on the other hand, the African traditionals are forced into such an oppressive system, it would involve the expropriation of a 2 billion Rand market from thousands of people who have traditionally earned their sustenance this way, severely restrict free public access to and escalate the cost of these substances to the very people who rely on them most and who the authoritories purport to serve.
A bold, equitable alternative to the industry-driven monopolistic Listing System is an urgent imperative. PHARMAPACT’s proposals equitably satisfy the most pragmatic quality, safety and efficacy criteria.
Adopted by Resolution 260 (III) A of the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948.
Genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations and condemned by the civilised world; At all periods of history genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity; In order to liberate mankind from such an odious scourge, international co-operation is required.
Genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law, which we undertake to prevent and to punish.
Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
destruction in whole or in part;
The following acts shall be punishable:
Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.
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This report has been researched and prepared by:
Stuart Thomson, Director, Gaia Research Institute; National Co-ordinator, PHARMAPACT
--- Pre-Publication Release, May 1999. ---
Peoples Health Alliance Rejecting Medical Authoritarianism, Prejudice And Conspiratorial Tyranny.
Ph / fax: 044-5327765; PO Box 2404, Knysna, 6570. E-MAIL: pharmapact@hotmail.com or gaia.research@pixie.co.za
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Appendix
CULTURAL NOTES CENTRAL TO THE AFRICAN CONCEPT OF TRADITIONAL HEALING
"In Bantu "Theory of Causation"- ie their entire body of ideas on the causes of illness, death, and adversity; the spirits of the departed, the ancestors, hold a prominent and central place, the supreme arbiters of good and evil. The Bantu peoples therefore do not worry about physical disease, however painful, but are deeply concerned about its origin. Their treatment, ie the rituals, traditional practices and ceremonials are mainly directed towards the reconciliation with the ancestors and towards neutralising the magical and malevolent influences which have caused the illness. Their use of herbal remedies is based on the same premise, of disposing of the evil at work in the body of the afflicted person, which is the cause of the trouble."
"The term witchdoctor means the doctor who renders witches harmless, not the doctor who is a witch. The isangoma is thus the exposer of evil and the diviner of causes. The second influence used against evil is the inyanga or herbalist. He does not traditionally divine the source of evil, but treats it with herbs and various rituals and ceremonies. In the setting of these belief-systems, Western medicine is merely the painkiller, the analgesic as it were. The untutored person cannot conceive that the body is subject to disease processes which can progress unbeknown to them. It is not only the untutored among the Bantu who hold these views, the half-educated and even some educated people are often influenced by their age-old beliefs." (Walker M, in Aspects of Community Health in South Africa, Searle C, Ed. The South African Nursing Association, 1973)
"Africans believe that certain of their illnesses can only be cured by their own inyanga, that it is useless to go to the hospital if a person has contracted one of these. About half of the illnesses diagnosed by the inyanga today are attributed to witchcraft. The inyanga gives medicine to protect the patient and the family from a person’s evil intentions. It is believed that the inyanga can prevent almost any adversity in life. Since they do not relate disease to organs, they cannot understand, recognise or treat disease by scientific observations. Thus treatment is mystical and herbs are prescribed haphazardly." (Geland M, "An African Culture in relation to Medicine", in Mankind and Medicine in the Third Millennium, Tygerberg Hosp/Univ Stellenbosch, Sept 1976)
There are two principal types of Zulu Traditional practitioners. The Isangoma, usually female is a diviner and is said to be chosen by her ancestors who bestow upon her a clairvoyant diagnostic powers. The "doctor" or Inyanga is usually male and has a comprehensive knowledge of Zulu medicines, usually passed from father to son. The medicines employed are often ground from a variety of leaves, barks, stems, bulbs, fruits, flowers, seeds and parts of animals. They may be given as purgatives, enemas, rubbed into the skin, breathed in, administered via small cuts in the skin etc. Traditionally in cases of diarrhoea, for example, purgatives were given in the belief that it was essential to clean out the cause of diarrhoea from the system.
The pharmacopoeia is extensive and contains powerful chemical substances with both potentially useful as well as toxic properties. In addition to the pharmacological properties, it is also believed that the colour of a medicine is related to its power, which therefore act at a metaphysical as well as a physical level. Treatment modalities, however, are not restricted to the use of medicines. The support and advice of protective ancestors can be elicited through adherence to complex rituals including animal slaughter. Scarification is a common treatment, analogous to immunization. (Friedman I, Healthlink, Issue No. 37, October 1998)
