title: Reclaiming the essentials of Akufo.
abstract: Herbert Gilles' study of disease and environment at Akufo in Nigeria around 1960 was an early example of an integrated and detailed approach to understanding the health of a small group of people. Subsequent studies on a larger scale have focused on particular diseases or on the provision of medical care. The primary-health-care movement has tended in practice to neglect the material environment. Medical anthropological work has returned to detailed studies of processes in small communities. There is a need to return to looking at the overall health and disease pattern of small communities, together with their environment and human behaviour, to get a coherent understanding. The formulation of interventions appropriate to this understanding will be more difficult.
authors.affiliation: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U.K. dbradley@lshtm.ac.uk
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bradley
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D004777:Environment; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009549:Nigeria; D011320:Primary Health Care