Desperately Seeking the Tools of Ethics for Traditional Medicine
- 1 School of Public Health, (Hohoe Campus) University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana
- 2 Institute for Security, Disaster and Emergency Studies Sandpiper Place, Langma, Ghana
- 3 African Academy for Environmental Health, (AAEH) University of Malawi, Chichiri Blantyre, Malawi
Abstract
Objective: To determine the perceived adequacy of the Code of Ethics of the Traditional Medicine Practice as contained in Act 575 of 2000, with respect to patient and manufacturer protection. Method: The author reviewed the legal framework for the regulation of Traditional medicine in Ghana. Investigation was conducted on the worldwide web to identify literature that addressed the research question and reviewed for best practice. Result: The Code of Ethics of the Traditional Medicine Council of Ghana is inadequate for client and manufacturer protections. It is a professional code of ethics, which is skewed to industry players. This vacuum provides opportunity for mistakes, patient endangerment and even fatality. Discussion: There is an established national legal framework for the regulation of the industry with the secondary function of the taxonomy under the framework towards enhanced taxcollection by government. Patient protection code of ethics needs to be developed. Conclusion: The Council needs to develop the ethical framework that would protect both the ultimate beneficiaries of their products and services as well as the workers and operators in the industry.
- Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2001). Principles of Biomedical Ethics (5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Castellano Marlene, B. (2004). Ethics of Aboriginal Research. Journal of Aboriginal Health, 1, 98-114.
- Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice for Traditional and Alternative Medicine Practitioners in Ghana. Accra: Government Printers.
- Coughlin, S. S., Katz, W. H., & Mattison, D. R. (1999). Ethics Instruction at Schools of Public Health in the United States. Association of Schools of Public Health Education Committee. American Journal of Public Health, 89, 768-770. http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.89.5.768
- Dworkin, G. (1988). The Theory and Practice of Autonomy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511625206
- Emmanuel, E. J., & Emmanuel, L. I. (1992). Four Models of the Physician-patient Relationship. JAMA, 267, 2221-2226. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1992.03480160079038
- Engstrom, S. (1992). The Concept of the Highest Good in Kant’s Moral Philosophy. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 51, 747-780. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2107910
- Feldman, F. (1978). Kantian Ethics from His Introductory Ethics (pp. 97-117). New York: Prentice-Hall.
- Ghana Health Service’s Patient Charter Contained in the Public Health Act of 2012 (Act 851). Accra: Government Printers.
- Gostin, L. O. (Ed.) (2002). Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press and the Milbank Memorial Fund.
- Holland, S. (2010). Public Health Ethics (p. 50). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
- Katz, R. V., Kegles, S. S., Kressin, N. R., et al. (2006). The Tuskegee Legacy Project: Willingness of Minorities to Participate in Biomedical Research. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 17, 698-715.
- Kraushaar v. La Vin, 1818 Misc. 508, 42 N. Y. S. 2d, 857, 859.
- Norman, I. D. (2016). The Tools for Appraising Ethics for the Practice of African Traditional Medicine. Acta Bioethica, (Accepted, 14 May, 2016).
- Rothstein, M. A. (2009). Improve Privacy by Eliminating Informed Consent? IOM Report Misses the Mark. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 37, 507-509. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720X.2009.00411.x