Toyin Falola and Matthew M. Heaton, eds.
Health Knowledge and Belief Systems in Africa
Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2008.
564 pp.
ISBN–13: 978-1-59460-243-6
by Araba Dawson-Andoh,
Ohio University
Health and illness is an increasingly crucial issue in Africa today and this book edited by University of Texas Francis Higginbotham Nalle Centennial History professor Toyin Falola and Matthew Heaton, a Patrice Lumumba Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin is a timely contribution to the discourse. The editors have co-edited multiple books on African health and wellbeing. The book offers readers a multidisciplinary analysis of issues related to the role of African belief systems and health knowledge in sub-Saharan African health care. It examines the effects of this on perceptions of health, utilization, dissemination and provision of health services to African populations.
The chapters in the edited volume were papers originally presented at an international conference on African health and illness at the University of Texas, Austin in March 2005. They are grouped within five sections according to a specific effect of health knowledge and belief systems on health care in Africa. Part A deals with religious beliefs and cultural values and their effects on utilization and provision of health services. The eight chapters in this section contain interesting discussions including world view and its effect on peoples’ perception of health care and the need for it to be part of the health care dialogue in Africa. J. C. van der Merwe (chapter 2) discusses the importance of world view interpretation to health care in South Africa and concludes that to achieve effective health care the different parties engaged in the health care dialogue would benefit from recognizing this. Felix Augustine (chapter 
a medical doctor in Ghana discusses the spiritual dimensions of health and illness. He relates the personal experiences of some Christian doctors in Ghana that suggest the existence of a force that transcends biomedical science even though such beliefs are scorned by the medical profession and therefore cannot be discussed openly. His essay could have benefited by widening the group of his interviewees to include medical professionals from other religions.
The sixteen chapters in Part B look at attitudes of African governmental agencies and international organizations towards health care in Africa with some chapters dealing with the importance of historical legacy in shaping the African health knowledge and beliefs. Some of the stimulating essays in this section are that of political scientist Obinna Ihunna (Chapter 18) who sees leadership failures of post colonial African governments and non- governmental organizations as being the main cause of ill health in Africa. Another is Isabelle Leblanc’s (chapter 11) essay on the role of international governmental policies on health care in Africa, questioning the ethics of international health care efforts such as in Niger, where a vaccination campaign was carried out without the informed consent of the participants.
Part C, made up of six chapters discusses the impact of health beliefs and knowledge on the responses to HIV/AIDS in Africa. This section also includes essays on popular responses to, as well as clinical and alternative treatments of HIV/AIDS. David Eaton’s (chapter 19) engaging case studies of the lives of a musician/composer and a novelist/playwright vividly illustrate popular responses to HIV/AIDS in equatorial Africa. Using their role as social critics these two artists brought HIV/AIDS into public discourse through their own personal battles with the disease and through their music and literally work. The chapters in part D discuss the use of the arts such as literature, theater, film and media in disseminating health knowledge and beliefs in Africa. The two chapters in Part E discuss the potential and new role of information technology namely, the cross dissemination of foreign health knowledge in Africa, and of African health knowledge to the rest of the world.
The chapters are well presented with the use of tables, figures, maps and photos to help articulate the points of view in some of the essays. The grouping of the chapters into topical sections provides a sense of coherence to the multidisciplinary discussions. The preface by the co-editors titled “Overview investigating health knowledge and beliefs” (pages xxi-xxx) summarizes and provides commentary on the chapters. The introduction (pages 3-29) by Susan Rasmussen an anthropologist synthesizes the diverse disciplinary contributions by analyzing and providing a theoretical background to the topics in the sections. The notes on contributors show an impressive list from diverse disciplines with African backgrounds, including sociologists, psychologists, physicians, anthropologists, historians, linguists and scientists. The case studies presented were drawn from different countries making them very representative of most of sub-Saharan Africa. There is however a lack of consistency in the length of the essays as well as the listing and style of references.
Overall the essays offer excellent discussions on the effects of health knowledge and belief systems on sub-Saharan African healthcare, how it affects perceptions, decisions, utilization and delivery. This book is an important contribution to the understanding of African health care issues and a welcome addition to African collections.
