Fostering traditional health systems and ethnomedicine practices through a holistic approach: a pioneering community strategy from Southern India.
The ever-presence of traditional medicine and of medical practitioners in remote areas of the world is well documented by anthropological studies. However, the social, cultural, and environmental factors influencing health and traditional health systems have been analyzed separately, ignoring the interlinkages existing between them and the resulting synergies as well as the impact these will have on the multiple aspects of local communities. This case study attempts to overcome this shortcoming, by investigating the interrelationships between biodiversity conservation and the practice of ethnomedicine in Southern India as a basis to implement primary health care, enhance local livelihoods, and contribute to poverty alleviation through community-based entrepreneurial activities.
Torri
Maria Costanza
MC
Department of Social Sciences, University of Toronto at Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ontario M1C 1A4 Canada. mctorri@yahoo.it
D019058:Community Networks / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003906:Developing Countries; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D008517:Phytotherapy