I looked at Western health care as the ultimate way, but when we talk to the traditional health care providers, we find there are a lot of things we can learn from them. He has studied some traditional remedies and believes there are herbs that are effective against hypertension, abscesses and worms, among other ailments. When he can, he likes to give his patients the choice of using herbal preparations instead of the hospital's usually more expensive drugs. He also believes patients with incurable ailments like AIDS can benefit emotionally from consulting spiritualists, who provide an explanation for their condition and hope of relief. Other hospitals have started making use of traditional expertise on the premises, enlisting the help of locals who set broken bones, for example.
Traditional healers welcome their newfound respect and status within the medical community.
If there is a spiritual aspect to the problem, I take care of it. Problems that I find are physical, I refer to hospital. Many healers used to refuse to refer patients to Western doctors. Sofo says hospital staff would remove the protective talismans he gave his patients to protect them from spirit attacks. These days doctors sometimes refer patients to Abdalla for bone setting.