Anthropology and International Health: South Asian Case Studies (Culture, Illness and Healing, 15)

In this book I present a series of eleven essays written between 1978 and 1987 on subjects relevant to the anthropology of health and international health. The issues addressed in these essays were investigated during 38 months of fieldwork in rural southwest peninsular India (197 4-86) and 15 months of fieldwork in southwest Sri Lanka (1983-84 ). ;During various periods of this time I conducted ethnographic fieldwork, explored the feasibility of participatory community research, facilitated the development of a postgraduate health education training program, and served as a consultant to various international health organizations. The essays document my ongoing attempts to integrate academic interests in the anthropology of health with applications of anthropology for international health and development. The volume is divided into four sections structured around the themes of: ethnophysiology, illness ethnography, pharmaceutical related behavior, and health communication. Included are studies of fertility and pregnancy (Chapters 1 and 2), states of malnutrition and approaches to nutrition education (Chapters 5 and 11 ), diarrheal disease and water boiling behavior (Chapters 6 and 1 0), and lay perceptions of fertility control methods and medicines (Chapters 3 and 7). Emerging from these studies is a recognition that perceptions of ethnophysiology and contingent health concerns signifi­ cantly influence health behavior and the use as well as demand for traditional and modern health resources. In this book I present a series of eleven essays written between 1978 and 1987 on subjects relevant to the anthropology of health and international health. The issues addressed in these essays were investigated during 38 months of fieldwork in rural southwest peninsular India (197 4-86) and 15 months of fieldwork in southwest Sri Lanka (1983-84). ;During various periods of this time I conducted ethnographic fieldwork, explored the feasibility of participatory community research, facilitated the development of a postgraduate health education training program, and served as a consultant to various international health organizations. The essays document my ongoing attempts to integrate academic interests in the anthropology of health with applications of anthropology for international health and development. The volume is divided into four sections structured around the themes of: ethnophysiology, illness ethnography, pharmaceutical related behavior, and health communication. Included are studies of fertility and pregnancy (Chapters 1 and 2), states of malnutrition and approaches to nutrition education (Chapters 5 and 11), diarrheal disease and water boiling behavior (Chapters 6 and 1 0), and lay perceptions of fertility control methods and medicines (Chapters 3 and 7). Emerging from these studies is a recognition that perceptions of ethnophysiology and contingent health concerns signifiƯ cantly influence health behavior and the use as well as demand for traditional and modern health resources Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-4 Front Matter....Pages 5-5 Cultural Notions of Fertility in South Asia and their Impact on Sri Lankan Family Planning Practices....Pages 7-29 The Ethnophysiology and Folk Dietetics of Pregnancy: A Case Study from South India....Pages 30-56 Modern Methods of Fertility Regulation: When and for Whom are they Appropriate?....Pages 57-82 Front Matter....Pages 83-84 The Language of Illness, Contagion and Symptom Reporting....Pages 85-123 Cultural Interpretations of States of Malnutrition Among Children: A South Indian Case Study....Pages 124-155 From Aralu to Ors: Sinhalese Perceptions of Digestion, Diarrhea, and Dehydration....Pages 156-184 Front Matter....Pages 185-185 Lay Perceptions of Medicine: A South Indian Case Study....Pages 187-213 Paying for What Ails You: Sociocultural Issues Influencing the Ways and Means of Therapy Payment in South India....Pages 214-232 Pharmaceuticals, Health Commodification, and Social Relations: Ramifications for Primary Health Care....Pages 233-277 Front Matter....Pages 279-279 Drink Boiled Water: A Cultural Analysis of a Health Education Message....Pages 281-286 Education by Appropriate Analogy....Pages 287-306 Epilogue....Pages 307-308 Back Matter....Pages 309-314