Publication:
African Traditional Healers : The Economics of Healing

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dc.contributor.authorLeonard, Kenneth L.
dc.date.accessioned2012-08-13T13:10:12Z
dc.date.available2012-08-13T13:10:12Z
dc.date.issued2001-05
dc.description.abstractThe traditional healers are a source of health care for which Africans have always paid. Even with the expansion of modern medicine, healers are still popular and command fees exceeding the average treatment cost at most modern practitioners. Are traditional healers miracle workers or are they charlatans? Clearly either view is too extreme. Traditional healers are not perfect. Nor, however, can they be charlatans. This article advances a view of traditional healers that relies on neither supernatural power nor manifest ignorance. It suggests that healers remain popular despite abundant modern medicine because they have wisely used an important economic contract to the mutual benefit of their practice and the population they serve. While the contrasts between traditional medicine and modern medicine are many, the article focuses on the differences in the way traditional and modern healers are paid. An important element of their practice has been previously ignored: traditional healers receive the bulk of their payment only if the patient is cured.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/05/1574609/african-traditional-healers-economics-healing
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/10806
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/10806
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesIndigenous Knowledge (IK) Notes; No. 32
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectASTHMA
dc.subjectDOCTORS
dc.subjectEMPLOYMENT
dc.subjectHEALTH CARE
dc.subjectHEALTH ECONOMICS
dc.subjectHEALTH SERVICES
dc.subjectHEALTH STATUS
dc.subjectHEALTH SYSTEMS
dc.subjectHOSPITALS
dc.subjectILLNESSES
dc.subjectMALARIA
dc.subjectMEDICATION
dc.subjectMODERN MEDICINE
dc.subjectPARENTS
dc.subjectPATIENTS
dc.subjectPHYSICIANS
dc.subjectRURAL HEALTH CARE
dc.subjectSMOKING
dc.subjectSURGERY
dc.subjectTRADITIONAL HEALERS TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
dc.subjectHEALTH ECONOMICS
dc.titleAfrican Traditional Healers : The Economics of Healingen
dc.title.alternativeLes guerisseurs traditionnels africains : l'economie de la santeen
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crosscuttingsolutionareaGender
okr.date.disclosure2001-11-07
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-29T09:43:38.518111Z
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Brief
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/05/1574609/african-traditional-healers-economics-healing
okr.globalpracticeHealth, Nutrition, and Population
okr.globalpracticeGovernance
okr.globalpracticeHealth, Nutrition, and Population
okr.guid411741468742873961
okr.guid628471468210597088
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum090224b0855bd9a8_2_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum1574609
okr.identifier.report22385
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2001/11/07/000094946_01092604010381/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdfen
okr.region.administrativeAfrica
okr.topicLaw and Development::Health Law
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population::Adolescent Health
okr.topicHealth Monitoring and Evaluation
okr.topicHealth Systems Development and Reform
okr.topicGender::Gender and Health
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population
okr.unitAFT: Opertnl Quality & Knowledge (AFTQK)
okr.volume1
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