Medicine and Health in Africa

Multidisciplinary Perspectives

Paula Viterbo, Paula Viterbo, Kalala Ngalamulume

• Publisher: Michigan State University Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9780870139918
• eBook ISBN:
  9781628954906
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Health Policy

Over the last two decades, the implosion of economies under the burden of debt, the negative repercussions of structural adjustment programs, the crisis of legitimacy, civil wars, and the collapse of some states have resulted in serious health issues across the African continent. Newly emerging diseases, such as Ebola virus and HIV/AIDS have killed and disabled millions. Some "old diseases," such as yellow fever, tuberculosis, and polio have reappeared. Malaria, cholera, and meningitis continue to kill thousands. In many countries, the medical infrastructure has collapsed, while an increasing number of physicians and nurses have migrated to more hospitable places. Stigmatization of the affected people has exacerbated social and racial discrimination and has affected the implementation of national and international public health programs. The complexity of the situation requires an interdisciplinary approach. This collection, including contributions by historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and biologists, emphasizes the social and cultural contexts of African health, paying particular attention to the history of the colonial public health system and its legacy.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Contributors
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Is Culture Risky? Media Representations and Local Interpretations of Risk in Western Kenya
• 3. The Politics of HIV Education for Adolescents in South Africa
• 4. Navigating the AIDS Epidemic in Rural Malawi
• 5. HIV/AIDS in Africa: No More Slogans
• 6. Stigma and the Political Economy of Disease: The Neglected Dimension of Interventions to Reduce HIV/AIDS Stigma
• 7. Comments on Stigma and Behavior Change: Implications for HIV Prevention
• 8. Malaria and the Peopling of Early Tropical Africa
• 9. Drug Resistant Bacteria and Childhood Diarrhea in Africa
• 10. Classify and Sequestrate: The Regulation of Madness in Saint-Louis du Sénégal, 1890-1914
• 11. Commodity Fetichismo, the Holy Spirit, and the Turn to Pentecostal and African Independent Churches in Central Mozambique
• 12. The Long Shadow of Colonialism: Why We Study Medicine in Africa
• Index