Affiliation:
1. Africa Centre for HIV/Aids Management, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2. Department of Sociology and Social Work, National University of Lesotho, Roma, Lesotho
Abstract
This article engages the perpetual denigration of African Traditional Knowledge System (ATKS) by African governments in favor of western biomedical approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic has once again put the spotlight on the alternative approaches to health and the need for a holistic and broader understanding of these practices in Africa. Using a literature review on health sectors across Africa and cases of traditional health medicines and use in selected countries, we show the Afro cosmo vision and understanding of health, and we make a case for a non-western health approach that is holistic, endogenous, and community-centered. We argue that health approaches need to be anchored on proper understanding of African societies, whose approach to health encompasses the spiritual, emotional, and physical aspect of one’s existence. Our work lends support for the importance of having a multidimensional holistic health system and approach for universal health coverage (UHC) toward the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Africa which encompasses ATKS in dealing with pandemics.
Subject
Sociology and Political Science,Anthropology,Cultural Studies
Reference55 articles.
1. The Conundrum of Low COVID-19 Mortality Burden in sub-Saharan Africa: Myth or Reality?
2. Pan-Africanism
3. Africa Check. (2020, April 20). Melinda Gates said she feared coronavirus in Africa would lead to dead being put out in street, as in Ecuador. Africa Check. https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/meta-programme-fact-checks/melinda-gates-said-she-feared-coronavirus-africa-would-lead
4. Al Jazeera English. (2021, April 12). What is the true extent of COVID-19 in Haiti? The Stream, Al Jazeera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoDv_HMxsbs
5. The post-colonialist condition, suspicion, and social resistance during the West African Ebola epidemic: The importance of Frantz Fanon for global health
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献