Vecchiato N L
Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
Med Anthropol Q. 1997 Jun;11(2):183-201. doi: 10.1525/maq.1997.11.2.183.
This article examines ethnomedical knowledge and practices related to tuberculosis conceptualization and management in a rural southern Ethiopian community. An adult health-status survey, administered to 217 adults selected through quota sampling procedures, investigated prevailing nosological structures. Additionally, disease-enhancing behaviors were identified through qualitative-research methods. The findings show that while symptomatological concepts coincide with biomedicine, the local etiological model postulates empirically based causational factors unrelated to tubercle bacilli. Therapeutic preference hinges on the utilization of ethnobotanical remedies and their expected emetic effects. The relevance of tuberculosis-related ethnomedical knowledge and management practices is discussed in relation to primary health care and disease-control programs in Ethiopia. It is recommended that health-education interventions, illustrating the nature and transmission avenues of tuberculosis and the effects of biomedical therapies, precede and/or accompany vaccination campaigns or chemotherapy. Teaching materials should valorize existing ethnomedical notions that emphasize contagion as an avenue of disease transmission, and the importance of nutritional adequacy in fighting the disease.
本文考察了埃塞俄比亚南部一个农村社区中与结核病概念化及管理相关的民族医学知识和实践。通过配额抽样程序选取了217名成年人进行成人健康状况调查，以探究流行的疾病分类结构。此外，还通过定性研究方法确定了促病行为。研究结果表明，虽然症状学概念与生物医学相符，但当地的病因模型假定了与结核杆菌无关的基于经验的致病因素。治疗偏好取决于民族植物药疗法的使用及其预期的催吐效果。结合埃塞俄比亚的初级卫生保健和疾病控制项目，讨论了与结核病相关的民族医学知识和管理实践的相关性。建议在疫苗接种运动或化疗之前和/或同时开展健康教育干预，说明结核病的性质和传播途径以及生物医学疗法的效果。教材应重视现有的民族医学观念，这些观念强调接触传染是疾病传播的一种途径，以及营养充足在抗击疾病中的重要性。
