Doctors For Life International (DFL) on Sunday, said it was encouraged by the move towards submitting Traditional African Medicine (TAM) to scientific testing and clinical trials.
However, in a statement, the DFL said it found Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's comments on Saturday inappropriate and counterproductive.
Tshabalala-Msimang, during an address to the Presidential Task Team on African Traditional Medicine said: "We cannot use western models of protocols for research and development. We should guard getting bogged down with clinical trials."
DFL said being inconsequent with scientific safeguards would leave ample loopholes to make it virtually inevitable for the general public -- who use untested TAM - to ingest substances from scavenged body parts that were mixed with some of the medicines.
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"This will lead the SA pharmaceutical industry further up the garden path similar to the disastrous HIV and Aids policy."
The DFL said considering the "extremely high incidence" of muti-killings, it was clear that some potions sold as traditional African herbal medicine contained human body parts.
"DFL has numerous testimonies of traditional healers using human body parts in herbal mixtures. Usually the medicine is considered more powerful if the body parts are removed while the victim is still alive.
"Human genitals are often used in love potions and remedies for infertility and/or impotence," the statement read.
In a five year study conducted at the George Mukhari hospital - formerly Ga-Rankuwa hospital, north of Pretoria - acute poisoning, resulting form the use of traditional medicines had the highest incidence of death.
This accounted for 51.7 percent of all deaths due to acute poisoning.
Traditional healers were the main source of the medicines, and in some cases substances were bought at a shop for African remedies.
Another study analysed the Johannesburg forensic database over five years and found that (African) traditional remedies were linked to 43 percent of poisoning cases.
DFL said there was a need for guidelines for research into traditional medicine therapies and products, and guidelines for use during manufacture of traditional medicine products. - Sapa
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