Infusions of health

The popularity of vaccinations among Bissa in Burkina Faso

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2171696
AutoresHelle Samuelsen (0000-0001-8059-9380, autor correspondente)
Ano2001
Volume8
Fascículo2-3
Páginas163-175
Data de publicação2001-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAnthropology and Medicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1364-8470 • E-ISSN: 1469-2910
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13648470120101354
OpenAlexW2016386870
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas11

The Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) has been a worldwide success; about 80% of all infants are being vaccinated. A number of anthropological studies have discussed reasons behind the active demand for vaccinations and injections in general. One issue that has been discussed in many of these studies is to which extent injection techniques correspond to indigenous perceptions and practices of prevention and therapy. This paper explores relations and resonances between a local incision technique practised by a herbalist in the village of Kéru in Burkina Faso and the vaccination services provided by a rural health centre. The two health care services are compared as social situations and as medical practices. The paper is based on 10 months of fieldwork including interviews with patients and healers, case studies and participant observations. Results show that the technique of penetrating the skin in order to mix medicine directly into the blood fits well with local understandings of bodily processes. Furthermore, vaccination as a preventive measure where children's bodies are worked upon in order to infuse health into their bodies corresponds with other indigenous practices. The two kinds of vaccination practices might influence one another and the popularity of both kinds of vaccinations, it is argued, must be understood within the larger context of parents' concern with their children's health in the world of Kéru

Business · Context (archaeology · Economic growth · Family medicine · Geography · Health care · Indigenous · Order (exchange · Popularity · Vaccination · African Studies and Ethnography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine · Migration, Identity, and Health · Psychology · Social Psychology · Immunology