Traditional and Modern Health Systems in Nigeria

Summary

Health related topics in African countries tend to be viewed negatively. With HIV infection rates soaring and health sectors ill equipped to handle the needs of the general population in most sub-Saharan African countries, there seems to be little worth celebrating in terms of health care options for Africans. Historically, Nigeria has fit well into this assessment.

Description

Health related topics in African countries tend to be viewed negatively. With HIV infection rates soaring and health sectors ill equipped to handle the needs of the general population in most sub-Saharan African countries, there seems to be little worth celebrating in terms of health care options for Africans. Historically, Nigeria has fit well into this assessment. The essays in this book, however, do more than catalogue the failures of the Nigerian health sector.

They raise practical issues about how the Nigerian health sector can and perhaps is improving the health outlook for its citizens in the twenty-first century. Through analyses of the ever-increasing integration of traditional medical beliefs and practices with modern medical methods and treatments, as well as discussions about the proliferation of private and non-governmental health institutions, popular perceptions of health and illness, and the connection between environment and health, these essays illustrate the enormity and complexity of facets that combine to form a uniquely Nigerian health system.

Together, the essays in this volume paint a dichotomous picture of poor performance and optimism, underdevelopment and expansion facilities, but above all, they suggest that solutions to Nigeria's health problems do exist: the job merely remains to assess and implement them.

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