Indigenous Theories of Contagious Disease

Download or read book Indigenous Theories of Contagious Disease written by Edward C. Green and published by Rowman Altamira. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Far from being the province of magic, witchcraft, and sorcery, indigenous understanding of contagious disease in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world very often parallels western concepts of germ theory, according to the author. Labeling this 'indigenous contagion theory (ICT),' Green synthesizes the voluminous ethnographic work on tropical diseases and remedies_as well as 20 years of his own studies and interventions on sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, and traditional healers in southern Africa_to demonstrate how indigenous peoples generally conceive of contagious diseases as having naturalistic causes. His groundbreaking work suggests how western medical practitioners can incorporate ICT to better help native peoples control contagious diseases.