Mozambique is a developing country, and has an epidemiological profile that is typical of developing countries, with significant levels of infant malnutrition and predominance of infectious diseases (malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS). This profile is worsened by natural disasters such as droughts and floods making the population vulnerable to diseases of epidemiological nature, with emphasis on cholera, dysentery and other diarrheal diseases. In this post I would like to explain how peoples taboo or believes may contribute to outbreaks of cholera and interfere with the modern medicine.
Cholera is a rapidly dehydrating watery diarrheal disease transmitted through water or food Contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera, predominantly in areas with poor access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. The majority impoverished population is rural living in houses made of poles held together with mud, and thatched roofs made of palm leaves. As the most of them practices the Islamic religion their houses are built without latrines or toilet practicing defecation in open sky on the beach or along the river because they must wash their private parts. Thus, during the epidemic periods it is not surprising that cholera cases increase in these areas. Furthermore, some religious or ethnic groups have the practice of washing the remains body or doing traditional ceremony to help the soul to rest in peace. However, the policy is that no one is allowed to touch the body to avoid the widespread of vibrio cholera. These practices are inherited from their ancestral, consequently they refuse to change challenging the health promotion or health education activities.
Question: can we find the unswer for this issue from the sociology, social anthropology or cultural anthropology to succede on health promotion or health education activities.
