Developing applied medical anthropology in Third World countries: problems and actions

Recognition of the usefulness of ethnographic research in Third World community health projects and programs developed rapidly during the 1980s. As a result, the various agencies and organizations promoting community health programs (UNICEF, WHO, NGOs) have greatly increased their recruiting of social scientists, particularly medical anthropologists, for research and other programmatic activities in primary health care, child survival (especially diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, maternal and child nutrition, infectious disease, and AIDS). However, it has proved very difficult to identify well-trained anthropologists and/or other social scientists for these roles, particularly in Third World countries. This paper examines some of the background of this problem, and presents examples of methodological training (in both qualitative and quantitative research techniques) that seek to increase the skills of social scientists and other researchers in the arena of international community health.