U.S. Health Practitioner Attends Health Congress in Cuba

U.S. HEALTH PRACTITIONER ATTENDS
HEALTH CONGRESS IN CUBA

Published in the Metro Herald July 21, 2000.

Njideka N. Olatunde, ND. Ph.D., Naturopathic Healthcare Consultant, was invited to represent the African-American community at the Third International Congress of Natural/Traditional and Bio-Energetic Medicine in Holguin, Cuba. Dr. Olatunde, who is a renowned leader, educator, author, and researcher in the field of complementary healthcare in the African-American community, shared and exchanged healthcare information with medical practitioners and scholars from South and Central America, the Caribbean, China, Frica, Canada, and Europe. Olatunde's expertise in reflexology,which is used as a treatment modality in China and Caribbean healthcare, opened the doors to share clinical results and techniques with reflexology practitioners attending the Congress. In Cuba reflexology is used with great success in sleeping disorders and pain management for the elderly. Olatunde's book, Reflexology Today: A Family Affair, was highly requested because of the reflexology techniques used on children and the elderly.

The focus of the Congress included lectures, roundtable discussions, and workshops, addressing:

Asian Traditional Medicine
Homeopathy
Magnetic Therapy
Yoga
Chiropractic
Organic Agriculture and Nutrition
Medicinal Mud Therapy
Aromatherapy
Acupuncture-Induced Anesthesia in Medical and Dental Surgery
Natural/Traditional Medicine in Medical School Curriculum
Ozone Therapy
Scientific Research and Methodology in Natural and Traditional Medicine

While in Cuba, Olatunde visited a Natural Medical Clinic to observe in/out-patient services. She was asked to provide information about and a demonstration of how reflexology is used a treatment modality. She also visited the Medical University,where youth--between the ages of 12 to 16 who are beginning their medical career training--are taught healthcare prevention and how to use homeopathy remedies. These young people grow medicinal herbs and prepare and administer herbs for specific health problems. "This was a heartfelt experience and the high point of my trips," says Olatunde, who also has a youth reflexology apprenticeship training program in the greater Washington, DC, area.

"Cuba is a country with so little and has achieved so much with outstanding results and success," Olatunde maintains. "They have low infant mortality; no drug additions; outstanding preventive healthcare approaches and programs that emphasize education with application and support. See the health and education system in Cuba reminds me of those same systems that once existed in the African-American community, during a time when health and education were valuable family resources."

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