Communities' views on prerequisites for collaboration between modern and traditional health sectors in relation to STI/HIV/AIDS care in Zambia

Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TM/CAM) is globally increasing in popularity. The World Health Organization (WHO) has advocated for the integration of TM/CAM in national public health policies to enhance health care resources. Interest in collaboration between traditional and biomedical health sectors has been renewed in attempts to strengthen control of the AIDS epidemic. However, studies exploring communities' views on the prerequisites for such collaboration are inexistent. We conducted 21 focus group discussions with community members in two Zambian urban centres (Ndola and Kabwe) to explore their perspectives on preconditions for useful collaboration between traditional and modern health workers in the management of STIs and HIV/AIDS. This study shows that laypersons' perspectives can be rich and inform complex policy issues. Five categories indicating key areas of actions were identified, including protection of traditional medicine and of compensation of healers, education of both groups of providers and adequate community involvement. The respect for some degree of secrecy in traditional medicine was also called for. As part of efforts to strengthen available resources for better care of STI/HIV/AIDS, this study provides policymakers, researchers and practitioners with an outline of fundamentals in terms of needed crucial changes at health policy level, among providers and in the community for sustainable collaboration between modern and traditional health practitioners.