Sociocultural aspects of tuberculosis control in Ethiopia

This article examines ethnomedical knowledge and practices related to tuberculosis conceptualization and management in a rural southern Ethiopian community. An adult health-status survey, administered to 217 adults selected through quota sampling procedures, investigated prevailing nosological structures. Additionally, disease-enhancing behaviors were identified through qualitative-research methods. The findings show that while symptomatological concepts coincide with biomedicine, the local etiological model postulates empirically based causational factors unrelated to tubercle bacilli. Therapeutic preference hinges on the utilization of ethnobotanical remedies and their expected emetic effects. The relevance of tuberculosis-related ethnomedical knowledge and management practices is discussed in relation to primary health care and disease-control programs in Ethiopia. It is recommended that health-education interventions, illustrating the nature and transmission avenues of tuberculosis and the effects of biomedical therapies, precede and/or accompany vaccination campaigns or chemotherapy. Teaching materials should valorize existing ethnomedical notions that emphasize contagion as an avenue of disease transmission, and the importance of nutritional adequacy in fighting the disease.