Exploring Knowledge about Fang Traditional Medicine: An Informal Health Seeking Behaviour for Medical or Cultural Afflictions in Equatorial Guinea

Abstract

This study explores a range of informal health-seeking behaviors, including the use of Fang Traditional Medicine (FTM) for medical or cultural afflictions in Equatorial Guinea (EQ), the therapeutic methods used, the health problems handled, the learning process, traditional medicine user profiles and the social images of Fang Traditional Healers (FTHs). Ethnography was employed as a qualitative strategy using emic–etic approaches. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 individuals, including 6 community leaders, 19 tribal elders, 7 healthcare professionals, 11 FTHs and 2 relatives of traditional healers in 5 districts of EQ. FTM offers a cure for malaria and treatments for reproductive health issues, bone fractures and cultural illnesses. Several methods used to learn FTM are based on empirical observation, and without the need for traditional schooling, unlike with Western medical professionals: for example, watching a family member, or the spirits or ancestors, can reveal healing knowledge. Materials from forests, including tree barks and plants, and rituals are used to keep Fang populations healthy; in addition, two rituals known as “osuiñ” and “etoak” (infusions of tree barks with the blood of sacrificed animals) are the most commonly used treatments. In addition, elders and women are the most active consumers of FTM. FTM plays a relevant role in curing medical and cultural afflictions in Fang communities. The informal health-seeking behavior among the Fang community is conditioned by the explanation model of illness.

Analyse Situationnelle : Maladie à Virus Marburg en Guinée équatoriale et en Tanzanie

“…31 Equatorial Guinea has health workforce shortages, with 2017 data showing four doctors per 10,000 inhabitants. 32 The country has seen recent economic declines, resulting from drops in oil prices and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These are likely to have negatively affected investments in the health system.…”

“…35,36 One study on the use of traditional medicine in Equatorial Guinea found that while people might seek traditional medicine for 'ordinary' febrile diseases like malaria, the standing of traditional healers has declined, and many Guineans expressed limited confidence in their ability to heal disease. 32…”

Current use of medicinal plants for children’s diseases among mothers in Southern Romania

“…The recent literature on traditional medicine is mainly focused on the knowledge of experienced practitioners or healers, whereas domestic medicine research focused on the users knowledge, such as the skills and cultural beliefs of women, is rather scarce ( Choudhry, 1997 ; Cabré, 2008 ), although it is well documented that women and elders are the most active consumers of traditional medicine ( Voeks, 2007 ; Schunko et al, 2012 ; Jimenez-Fernandez et al, 2023 ). Women were also related to collecting and drying herbs as a source of botanical drugs (Ishtiaq et al, 2022), as well as to plant preservation efforts ( Bowcutt and Caulkins, 2020 ).…”