One of the key characteristics of alternative medicines in Asia and Africa is that they move from one cultural and geographic space to another, apparently without being constrained by trade-barriers, or regulatory mechanisms. Some governments promote the production and diffusion of neo-traditional medicines. They do so for economic reasons: alternative medicines are big business, but they also do so for ideological reasons: neo-traditional medicines reflect an attractive hybrid of modernity and national heritage, providing a sense of national identity in the globalized health economy [10] . The governments of India, China, Indonesia, and some African countries support research programs to further advance these neo-traditional products, and facilitate market diffusion. While registered pharmaceuticals are regulated heavily upon market entry (proof of efficacy is assessed by national drug regulatory authorities), this is not the case for alternative medicines. ART programs, which are sponsored by the same governments, usually discourage the use of alternative medicines, fearing the toxicity of the drugs, or that these medicines will interact with anti-retroviral medication and lead to discontinuation of ART therapy [11] . Governmental agencies may have contradictory attitudes towards the use of alternative medicines for AIDS, discouraging it within ART programs and supporting it within divisions of traditional medicine. An exception is the Chinese government, which officially supports a complementary medicine program for AIDS care and research [12] .