The Political Ecology of AIDS - Essay Example

?The Political Ecology of AIDS: Assessing a contemporary Syndemic AIDS is a disease that is incurable and people require proper cure and medical assistance for controlling the disease to an extent. In some parts of the world, this disease is quite common such as Africa where people are unable to check the implications of the disease and get hunted by it because of their lack of knowledge. Environment affects culture to a great extent. While accessing AIDS in different scenarios, it is quite clear that AIDS spreads in a locality such as in Africa because of environmental and cultural implications. Culturally, for healing a disastrous disease such as AIDS, the therapists require some research or some detailed evidence that their prescribed products or medicines are well established and fruitful. This fact cannot be denied that people believing in traditional healing systems will not go for biomedicine if they have firm believe in their culture and folk medicine procedures. Their beliefs should be respected and they should not be imposed that they must use the medicine that has no linkage with their culture. Even they should be facilitated with knowledge of their culture so that they can be provided with sufficient provision of needed support. AIDS is not a small or negligible disease as it keeps the capacity of killing a person. This disease is quite common in Africa and people make use of traditional or fold healing systems to get rid of this disease. It is essential for our researchers to make use of cultural herbal medicines and other ways of supporting people to get rid of their disease to facilitate the patients of AIDS with medicines that are not only biomedical but also traditional. Medical anthropologists have researched the topic of AIDS by keeping social and cultural aspects in view and state that the disease cannot be understood well without understanding the environment and culture of people involved. The writers Singer and Baer (2007) use a term bioculturalism to define the linkage between biology and culture and according to their view, interaction between cultures and biology can be seen well by studying health and illness. AIDS as a disease can be well understood by gaining knowledge of the culture of the people as culture informs us about explaining, sensing and experiencing about pain. Biomedicine cannot be successful for any diseased person until and unless, the culture, political status and environment, all are not well understood. Sexually transmitted disease such as AIDS involves cultural beliefs and practices. According to Singer and Baer (2007), “disease expression is shaped by cultural values, beliefs and expectations” (12). Therefore, the notion cannot be negated AIDS as a disease in various parts of the world can be best understood, explained and cured by means of understanding the cultures of people. Culture plays a major part in giving value to its followers and also provides people with fighting against diseases in their own constructed and reliable manners. References Singer, Merrill and Baer, Hans A. (2007). Introducing medical anthropology: a discipline in action. Boulevard: Rowman Altamira. Ethnomedicine: The Worlds of treatment and Healing Ethnomedicine can be defined as a term that circulates all the kinds of traditional medicines and its study whether the medicinal procedures are well documented or not. However, the medicinal study and procedures that come under the title of ethnomedicine are well established and people rely on them from centuries due to which, they are well reputed. The writers, Singers and Baer in their book, “Introducing Medical Anthropology” give the description of ethnomedicine as something that has “transcended multiple cultural boundaries”, which means that ethnomedicine has got so much repute that culturally, it is well-liked in nearly all cultures. The writers use the term ethnomedicine against the term biomedicine, which can be defined as study of medicinal procedures and medicine that is adopted globally. Ethnomedicine also called indigenous and folk medicinal systems accommodate all those procedures that are separated from biomedicine such as making of herbal medicines, teas and other ways. The writers Singers and Baer state that traditional ethnomedicinal procedures are quite effective as compared to biomedicine, which is quite right. People have such a belief in their cultural healing systems and they rely on them that they go for it instead of biomedicine. This belief is not without any reasoning. It is found out that mostly traditional healing procedures are adopted not only traditional healers but also by medical professionals because of their effectiveness. The creation of pharmaceutical drugs is again not without consideration of traditionally or culturally accepted procedures. Ethnomedicine is rich in its meaning as medicine and healing systems from various cultures all over the world are accommodated under this term and the health recovery procedures accepted by people all over the world traditionally cannot be negated as a whole as they are regarded effectual and productive by their practitioners and users. Singer and Baer (2007) also claim that biomedicine unlike indigenous and folk medicinal systems are well studied and researched over time while less importance is given to traditionally accepted procedures due to which, biomedicine has gained global status. People who do not go for traditional ways go for biomedicine by keeping faith that it is well researched and accommodative. The pharmaceutical drugs composed by researching under the category of biomedicine are much more effective for various diseases as compared to ethnomedicine. Much has been researched with the help of human body available for discovering various diseases and their implications while traditional healers are unable to make use of proper medicines. They do what they have learnt from their elders. However, now we are hearing the terms of herbal medicines and homeopathic in contrast with biomedicine and some work has started towards it. People’s faith in ethnomedicine is not without any grounds as people only follow procedures that prove effectual for their health care. In case of their in effectiveness, the ways would be disapproved altogether. Culturally accepted healing systems cannot be disregarded as it is these procedures that have also helped biomedicine to appear as a global healing system. Biomedicine is not only a global healing system but also an interconnection of ethnomedicine subsystems. References Singer, Merrill and Baer, Hans A. (2007). Introducing medical anthropology: a discipline in action. Boulevard: Rowman Altamira. Read More