Traditional and Western medicine are combining in a new partnership that could see many South African children and adults avoiding blindness. When medical anthropologist Susan Levine spoke to parents queuing at a hospital with children suffering from eye conditions‚ she realised that many faced a life of blindness because of delays in treating cataracts.Cataracts affect children and adults alike‚ and of the 384‚000 blind people in the country‚ half of them were blinded by cataracts.The delay for these children‚ and many adults too‚ is partly caused by families visiting traditional healers who‚ in some cases‚ were using treatments such as ground-up cuttlefish to "draw out" the cataract‚ and other secret herbal recipes."Clearly none of these work‚ and surgery is the only solution. So if people are visiting traditional healers‚ those healers become a vital source of referral to the clinic."This would mean bringing healers on board for training to notice signs or symptoms.To this end‚ eye health NGO Orbis Africa has taken on Levine's research and will conduct training in KwaZulu-Natal next year.Chief executive officer Lene Øverland said collaborating with traditional healers could "significantly reduce unnecessary sight loss".Makhosi Msomi‚ a traditional healer in Kwapata near Pietermaritzburg‚ said: "Some illnesses we think we can treat but later discover we can’t. Also‚ we do not have the equipment to examine the inner part of the eye‚ so if we as traditional leaders can spot symptoms that might tell us total blindness is on its way‚ it is great if we can refer people."Msomi's one concern was whether those in "deep rural" areas would access the training."There are some healers in deep rural areas who still say they can cure HIV. They should also get training so they can be aware of the eye illnesses they can't cure."She said traditional healers did not fear losing their clients once they had gone to the clinic."It strengthens us because we can explain to them what will happen at the clinic. It is like pre-counselling. We are helping catch a problem."Dr Jimmy Mthethwa‚ general manager of non-communicable diseases in the KZN Health Department‚ said: "Traditional healers are often the first point of entry and the most widely accessible health care in Africa".He said facilitating a link between traditional healers and primary healthcare services was "imperative".- TMG Digital/The Times..