Welcome to visit Zhongnan Medical Journal Press Series journal website!

Thinking global health from the perspective of anthropology

Published on Apr. 25, 2022Total Views: 6262 timesTotal Downloads: 2601 timesDownloadMobile

Author: Ruo-Bing JI Yu CHENG

Affiliation: School of Sociology & Anthropology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China

Keywords: Global health Medical anthropology Holism Political economy of inequality Cultural diversity Cultural adaptation Multispecies ethnography

DOI: 10.12173/j.issn.1004-5511.2021125874

Reference: Ji RB, Cheng Y. Thinking global health from the perspective of anthropology[J]. Yixue Xinzhi Zazhi, 2022, 32(2): 145-147. DOI: 10.12173/j.issn.1004-5511.2021125874.[Article in Chinese]

  • Abstract
  • Full-text
  • References
Abstract

COVID-19 has brought about political, economic, cultural, and interspecies problems far from medical areas, which challenges academia to rethink global health. For holism principle, anthropology offers valuable insights into these health issues, including the political economy of inequality, cultural diversity, and cultural adaptations, as well as the study of multispecies ethnography. These perspectives indicate that unequal political and economic systems contribute to health problems when people acknowledge disease and illness mechanisms. Moreover, cultural diversity and cultural adaptation are essential for providing appropriate medical solutions. Lastly, as a research method of studying interspecies relationships, multispecies ethnography promotes one health and planetary health from the ultimate perspective of holism. In conclusion, global health is not only a bio-medical concept but also involves political economy, culture, and multispecies factors, for which anthropology proffers inspiring theories and methods.

Full-text
Please download the PDF version to read the full text: download
References

1.Horton H, Beaglehole R, Bonita R, Raeburn J, McKee M, Wall S. From public to planetary health: a manifesto. The Lancet. 2014 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60409-8. - DOI - PubMed

2.Packard RM. A history of global health: interventions into the lives of other peoples. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2016.

3.Porter D. Health, civilization, and the state: a history of public health from ancient to modern times. New York: Routledge; 1999.

4.Brown P. Microparasites and macroparasites. Cultural Anthropol. 1987;2:155–171. doi: 10.1525/can.1987.2.1.02a00120. - DOI

5.Farmer P. Pathologies of power: health, human rights, and the new war on the poor. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2003.

6.Patel V, Kleinman A. Poverty and common mental disorders in developing countries. Bull World Health Organ. 2003;81(8):609–615. - PMC - PubMed

7.Sharp LA. Interspecies engagement in medical anthropology. Med Anthropol Q. 2019;33(1):163–167. doi: 10.1111/maq.12493. - DOI - PubMed

8.Amuasi JH, Winkler AS. One health or planetary health for pandemic prevention? The Lancet. 2020;396(10266):1882–3. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32392-8. - DOI - PubMed

9.Lien ME. Becoming Salmon: aquaculture and the domestication of a fish. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2015.