Over the last two decades, the implosion of economies under the burden of debt, the negative repercussions of structural adjustment programs, the crisis of legitimacy, civil wars, and the collapse of some states have resulted in serious health issues across the African continent. Newly emerging diseases, such as Ebola virus and HIV/AIDS have killed and disabled millions. Some “old diseases,” such as yellow fever, tuberculosis, and polio have reappeared. Malaria, cholera, and meningitis continue to kill thousands. In many countries, the medical infrastructure has collapsed, while an increasing number of physicians and nurses have migrated to more hospitable places. Stigmatization of the affected people has exacerbated social and racial discrimination and has affected the implementation of national and international public health programs. The complexity of the situation requires an interdisciplinary approach. This collection, including contributions by historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and biologists, emphasizes the social and cultural contexts of African health, paying particular attention to the history of the colonial public health system and its legacy.
ContentsForewordContributors1. Introduction | Kalala Ngalamulume and Paula Viterbo2. Is Culture Risky? Media Representations and Local Interpretations of Risk in Western Kenya | Crystal Biruk3. The Politics of HIV Education for Adolescents in South Africa | Zolani Ngwane4. Navigating the AIDS Epidemic in Rural Malawi | Susan Cotts Watkins5. HIV/AIDS in Africa: No More Slogans | Evelyne Shuster6. Stigma and the Political Economy of Disease: The Neglected Dimension of Interventions to Reduce HIV/AIDS Stigma | Laura McGough7. Comments on Stigma and Behavior Change: Implications for HIV Prevention | Judith Porter8. Malaria and the Peopling of Early Tropical Africa | James L. A. Webb, Jr.9. Drug Resistant Bacteria and Childhood Diarrhea in Africa | Faith Wallace-Gadsden and Iruka Okeke10. Classify and Sequestrate: The Regulation of Madness in Saint-Louis du Senegal, 1890-1914 | Kalala Ngalamulume11. Commodity Fetichismo, the Holy Spirit, and the Turn to Pentecostal and African Independent Churches in Central Mozambique | James Pfeiffer12. The Long Shadow of Colonialism: WhyWe Study Medicine in Africa | Jonathan SadowskyIndex