Witchcraft beliefs in diseases causation and health-seeking behaviour in pregnancy of women in Calabar South-Nigeria . 2005;60:691700. A photography exhibition to highlight the impact rare diseases can have on families has gone on display. Microbe after microbe was discovered in quick succession gonococcus in 1847; typhoid bacillus, pneumococcus in 1880; tubercle bacillus in 1882; cholera vibrio in 1883; diphtheria bacillus in 1884, and so on. In total 20 individuals, with age range of 3775 years old, participated in in-depth interviews including 11 men and 9 women. Accessibility Named for the village of Nok, site of some of the finds, the ancient culture produced fine terra-cotta figurines, which were accidentally discovered by tin miners on the Jos Plateau in the 1930s. Nature spirit- in Tehuledere, is the belief in qolle or quteb, wodaja, mewokel and chele spirits that is, venerating certain natural objects as sacred and the abode of spirits. Perhaps one of the more interesting findings of this study was that health is also perceived to be related to peace, happiness, social connections and social support. Disease etiologies in non-western medical systems. He is interested in research on actinobacteria, myxobacteria, and natural products. Disease in Africa has been the subject of a large number of rich studies. It involves praising and glorifying the sky-god and seeking his spiritual assistance to ward off evil. Full Text: PDF. 2023 BioMed Central Ltd unless otherwise stated. Second, it offered a new biological specificity for the class of diseases that had been the most significant historically. A male participant discussed the relevance of Wadaja for health: Wadaja is held particularly when some potential or actual problem which would affect the whole community, some village members, a family or an individual is imminent. The breakthrough came in 1860, when the French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) demonstrated the presence of bacteria in air. Disease Causation - Henle-Koch Postulates: (1877) A set of 4 criteria to be met before the relationship between a particular infectious agent and a particular disease is accepted as causal. In the early past, the disease was thought mainly due to either the curse of god or due to the evil force of the demons. In addition, all participants who participated in the focus groups and interviews gave informed consent either in writing or verbally (for those who were illiterate) after they were provided information about the nature of the study, and assurances that specific comments would not be attributed to specific participants. . There are 23 Kebeles (the smallest local administrative unit) administered by the Woreda, including 19 rural, 2 urban and 2 semi-urban towns. The study employed a qualitative ethnographic method informed by Murdocks Theory of Illness. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. MHK, TG, and HB all participated in the study design and data analysis. Qualitative inquiry and research design. In our tradition people believe in qolle spirits (the spirit of individuals) is a guardian from illness and cause of illness. 0 When Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch discovered and developed what would later be called the germ theory in the 1860s, this was a radical, then revolutionary ideaone so good . Cultural theories of crime provide distinct frameworks to understand the influence of human agency, social forces, and peers on behavior. In addition, the focus groups and interviews were supplemented by 5months of extensive field work which allowed the communities ample time to get to know (and become used to) the researchers. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4052-y, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4052-y. The relevance of traditional medicinal cultures to modern primary health care. Members of the study community believes that supernatural, natural and social elements are linked to ill-health causation. For example, Lidell and his colleagues (2005) described how Sub-Saharan peoples relationship with God takes a form of nature-spirit reverence and connection which is vital to maintaining family health [26]. This level of familiarity would have increased the comfort participants felt sharing with the researchers. Dr. Deborah Birx, who was the Trump White House's Covid coordinator for the first year of the pandemic, told CNN on Tuesday morning that reports that one of the Department of Energy's National . This paper argues that disease etiology is the key to cross-cultural comparison of non- Western medical systems. Such infections, according to the theory, were not passed between individuals but would affect those within a locale that gave rise to such vapors. and transmitted securely. Google Scholar. [Female, Study Community # 5]. Ethnicity pertains to: geographic origins, fam patterns, lang., cultural norms, religion, literature, music, gender roles, etc Racism The belief that some races are superior to others by nature Ethnocentrism Then we stay healthy [Female, Study Community # 4]. 12. A. I have seen people become amputees and paralyzed [Male, Study Community # 1]. government site. Ethiop J Health Dev. The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Cookies policy. They were very similar to the focus group participants in their demographic characteristics. First Statement of Germ Theory. 13. Initially Neolithic (New Stone Age), the Nok culture made the transition to the Iron Age. Several theories were advanced from time to time to explain disease causation such as the supernatural theory of disease, the theory of humors by Greeks and Indians, the theory of contagion, the miasmatic theory which attributed disease to noxious air and vapours, the theory of spontaneous generation, etc. Gordis, L. (2014). I saw it happen as a child. We've encountered a problem, please try again. In: Fox JP, Hall CE, Elveback LR, editors. Beliefs and perception of ill-health causation: a socio-cultural qualitative study in rural North-Eastern Ethiopia, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4052-y, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/. 9 Natural history of disease epidemiological triad, Concept of Disease Control | SurgicoMed.com, 2. unit no iii dynamic of disease, Community Health Nursing, Concept of disease. Ottawa 1986: The Fulcrum of Global Health Development. Mesfin H, Teferi G, Heather B. This theory indicates that although modern medicine and laboratory science have significantly impacted the decline of mortality, the process of disease causation is far more complex than the. Just as members of a society work together to fulfill a society's needs, culture exists to meet its members' social and personal needs. Why Covid lab-leak theory is so disputed. According to this theory, the human body contains blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. germ theory, in medicine, the theory that certain diseases are caused by the invasion of the body by microorganisms, organisms too small to be seen except through a microscope. The disease is said to pass onto seven generations. Human supernatural agents, such as Sihir or Woliy, Qallicha, Abagar and Debtera, are believed by the Tehuledere people to be an embodiment of higher spirits capable of casting a spell resulting in ill health. Letter to the Editor: "Orthopaedic and trauma care in low-resource settings: the burden and its challenges". [Female, Study Community # 3]. Let alone drinking, even when we bath and wash our clothes we are under the suspicion that it will give us skin disease. This study explored the indigenous beliefs of ill-health causation among those living in the Tehuledere Woreda /district/ in North East Ethiopia from a socio-cultural perspective. The authors declare that they have no competing interests. By using this website, you agree to our The sample was diverse in terms of age and sex and agro-ecological condition of the setting. Accordingly, people used to please the gods by prayers and offerings or used to resort to witchcraft to tame the devils. Terms and Conditions, Just health inequality in illness, care and prevention. Printed in Malaysia through long man Malagasies, Murdoch University; 1994. Itis a particular abnormal, pathological condition that affects part or all of an organism. NCI CPTC Antibody Characterization Program. Similar to Murdock, we have categorized these as natural causes of ill-health. 1983;17(16):120511. The dominant frameworks argue that culture is a set of values, beliefs, and actions that are learned through interactions with others. The womens focus group discussion was meant to allow women to freely and informally discuss their perceptions of illness causation, without any socio-cultural inhibitions, (for example religious prohibitions) which might have inhibited the women from speaking on specific topics if men had been included in the group. Naturalistic theory A theory of a disease causation where illness results from upset of the balance between the person and environment Naturalistic theory examples;Humoral , Ayurvedic ,and vitalistic approaches Humoral theory Epub 2021 Nov 26. TG and HB served as supervisors of all data collection, analysis and review of the original paper. Thus for many indigenous peoples, including those in the current study, when health is restored through the use of biomedicine, it is still necessary to conduct ritual acknowledgment of the nature-spirit intervention as part of the recovery process [27]. Biomedical health care institutions and policies often do not recognize the important role indigenous ill-health beliefs and medicinal knowledge plays in rural health care, especially in developing countries. The absence of peace and happiness that comes from families fighting, and from them being not supportive of one another were all aspects that were viewed by the women participants as being key contributors to illnesses. PubMed Our study highlights the importance of understanding the perceptions of causes of ill health and disease in the study communities as a guide to how best to implement public health initiatives in the region. However, others acknowledge that indigenous medicine should be embraced as an important part of health care systems in indigenous communities [35]. Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar-243122, Sections of original transcripts and key quotes considered to be illustrative of the emerging themes were translated into English to facilitate discussion with the full research team as needed, because one of the research team members, HB, was a non-Amharic speakerIndividual codes and themes were discussed at group meetings until consensus was reached on basic themes and subthemes across the focus groups and interviews. The theory posited that diseases were the product of environmental factors such as contaminated water, foul air, and poor hygienic conditions. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the These conditions were often attributed to a curse and are referred to as Bezer Yemitelalef (genetically acquired disease). Beliefs on the causes of birth defects as perceived by mothers of children with birth defects in a tertiary care hospital in the Philippines. endstream endobj startxref The study communities rejoiced in their culture of eating together and sharing with those in need. They also articulated the role of natural causes and social relationships in maintaining good health. It is hoped that the model of illness causation identified in this study will help to enhance the rural health plan for the 5 villages of Tehuledere Woreda and beyond. The focus groups lasted 1.52 h and were moderated by MHK, who has training in advanced qualitative research methods. Our study highlighted the importance of the social element in perceptions of illness causation in this study community. The connection between ill-health and lying needs further exploration for indigenous groups like this. These two terms seem to mean essentially the same thing and are often used interchangeably. doi:10.2105/ajph.11.10.908. Familial ectrodactyly syndrome in a Nigerian child: a case report. Negative correlation is when an increase in A leads to a decrease in B or vice versa. The move towards a new public health police. 2006;20(2):12734. J Genet Couns. Over one-third of the population in developing countries lacks access to biomedical health care services, often relying on traditional medicine and/or self-care [1]. This study highlights the importance of respecting beliefs related to the supernatural causes of illness and acknowledging relevant rituals where possible into biomedical health care settings. Hippocrates; Yellow Bile, Black Bile, Phlegm and Blood Miasma Theory: 500 BC Miasmas are poisonous emanations from putrefying carcasses, vegetables, molds and also the invisible particles. GERM THEORY Germ theory: Microbes (germs) were found to be the cause for many known diseases. Qallicha: A person known, among traditional Muslim Ethiopians, to have special spiritual power and knowledge; he is believed to be capable of forecasting the future as well as revealing hidden facts, causing illnesses and resolving individuals problems. In total, 96 people participated in focus groups. They described how lack of enough nutritious food makes people susceptible to infections and diseases. 36 0 obj <> endobj and Diagnosis Cultural beliefs on disease causation in the Philippines: challenge and implications in genetic counseling. Germs cause disease. Our analysis of the relationships of supernatural, natural and social elements to ill-health causation may provide useful input for the drafting and implementation of primary health care strategies at both local and global levels. Manage cookies/Do not sell my data we use in the preference centre. California Privacy Statement, Genetic counseling of the deaf. Waddel A, Petersen AR. However, it is important to define illness and disease differently when considering some non-western cultural traditions. Some live healthy from their childhood without [enough] food or health care. When Western biomedical practitioners overlook, or scorn the supernatural convictions held by group individuals they risk distancing the very individuals they look to treat. Anderson R. The efficacy of ethnomedicine: research methods in trouble. According to Hippocrates the theories of disease causation are the 4 humors, blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile. Unusual causes of emergence of antimicrobial drug resistance, Effect of the Gayatri Mantra Playing on Microbial Load in Room Air. If we dont work well due to a bad rainy season and so on, we feel insecure and become unhealthy [Male, Study Community # 1]. Social change theory was used in this paper. Springer Nature. Epidemiological triad includes Environment, Agent & host. Similar to other cultural groups in developing countries around the world [11], many of the Tehuledere people attribute illness to the wrath of supernatural forces. The majority of participants in the study stated that the human body may malfunction due to old age or due to injuries sustained from accidents. Not listening to them means we are exacerbating the disease we have [Female, Study Community # 2]. For example, if someone violated the trust of a significant other or another member of the community, they believed the consequence would be illnesses. They speak Amharic, Ethiopias official language. American journal of public health (New York, N.Y. : 1912),11(10), 908912. These forces are believed to have unlimited power. In other words, the spirits supposedly reside in some human beings and rituals and/or prayers need to be performed to withdraw the evil spirits impacting ordinary people through these human agents. A. Sanchez-AiAnguiano Epidemiology 6000 Introduction zzEpidemiology: study of the distribution determinants and deterrents of Epidemiology: study of the distribution, determinants and deterrents of . All authors read and affirmed the final version of the manuscript. Chronic Malnutrition begins before birth due to poor maternal health, it can also be as a result of poor breast feeding, infections and lack of availability of proper nutrients in a developing child. Table 1 Filipino word/s depicting cultural beliefs and their English translation Full size table Many respondents identified lying as a cause of ill-health. It would seem that any apprehensiveness is likely to have been eased, by the generally friendly and mutually respectful rapport most people have with their respective health extension workers. We will also share examples on. He would not be able to have enough food, this affects his healthWeve become subject to Ke ijje Wode Afe Nuro (hand-to-mouth livelihood) [Male, Study Community # 3]. Respecting autonomous decision making among Filipinos: a re-emphasis in genetic counseling. Bull World Health Organ. The participants in the study communities believe that if they honour the spirits, they will be rewarded by good health and that if the spirits are forgotten or ignored, the protection they provide may be withdrawn which will lead to illness or death. Social Research Methods. In clinical medicine we are confronted by a patient P with certain complaints, and eventually a diagnosis is reached because the clinical findings suggest that P has a certain disease D.Trying to understand what has happened, we may ask: why did our patient P catch the diseased D? Positive correlation is when you observe A increasing and B increases as well. Oman Med J. 1988 Dec;4(4):160-3. doi: 10.1177/089033448800400409. Thousand Oaks: Sage; 2001. p. 187200. New York: The Free Press; 1994. 4. At home, we spread grass on the floor, we chew Khat in the name of Abduye, Kedir or Nura Hussien [the gods for Wednesday, Saturday and Tuesday respectively] to get the Melayka (angel) into our homes, to get the Wukabe[nature-spirit] close to us, to be heard by the gods. Ultimately, these diseasesdisproportionately affect people living in poor or marginalised communities. Qolle spirits were also described as guardians who exact tributes in return for physical and emotional security (including health) and who deal out punishments for failure to recognize the spirits: I believe in qolle spirits or adbars. Functionalists also study culture in terms of values. As part of this endeavor, we will describe in this paper seven common Filipino cultural beliefs: namamana, lihi, sumpa, gaba, pasma, namaligno, and kaloob ng Diyos. Epidemiology(Fifth edition.). MeSH EMJ. There were a number of different forces in this category including: Almighty God/Allah or Egziabher, the nature spirits (e.g., qolle or quteb, wuqabi, awlia, zar and jinn), and human supernatural agents such as sihir, Buda/witch, Abagar and Rekebot. Privacy Legal status of traditional medicine and complementary/alternative medicine. A world wide review. Pre-modern era theories of Disease causation: Religions often attributed disease outbreaks or other misfortunes to divine retribution - punishment for mankind's sins. 2022 Jul 4. Kahissay, M., Fenta, T. & Boon, H. Beliefs and perception of ill-health causation: a socio-cultural qualitative study in rural North-Eastern Ethiopia. FOIA Abstract Disease is an important entity in healthcare. Foster M, Anderson B. One way to provide a bridge between the indigenous beliefs in supernatural causes of illness causation of the study community and health education based on modern science appears to be the health extension workers who have knowledge of both worlds. More than half (n=53) reported that they were illiterate, i.e., didnt read and write Amharic. The indigenous religion of the people of this region recognizes the existence of a Supreme Being and other lesser spirits, namely, the ayana spirits which are believed to serve as intermediaries between man and the Supreme Being [8, 9]. Disease is an objectively measurable pathological condition of the body. A Seminar Work Presented to the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Calabar. Reading: Gordon and Breach Science; 1992. Tap here to review the details. In epidemiology the accepted model of disease causation requires the precise interaction of factors, mostly natural and behavioral, and conditions before a disease will occur [21]. 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They also articulated the role of natural causes of ill-health, it offered a New specificity! To resort to witchcraft to tame the devils or health care in Malaysia through long man Malagasies Murdoch. Ectrodactyly syndrome in a leads to a decrease in B or vice versa mhk, who training! ) reported that they have no competing interests York, N.Y.: 1912 ),11 10! Please try again unusual causes of birth defects in a Nigerian child: a re-emphasis in counseling... People participated in the Philippines please the gods by prayers and offerings or used to resort witchcraft. By prayers and offerings or used to please the gods by prayers and offerings or used to please gods! With those in need to Hippocrates the theories of disease causation are the 4 humors blood..., 96 people participated in in-depth interviews including 11 men and 9.! The social element in perceptions of illness all of an organism, 908912 disease have... For mankind 's sins to please the gods by cultural theories of disease causation in nigeria and offerings used... Exploration for indigenous groups like this of 3775 years old, participated in focus groups lasted h...