Health Healing and Illness in African History

In this book Rebekah Lee offers a critical introduction to the diverse history of health healing and illness in sub-Saharan Africa from the 1800s to the present day. Its focus is not simply on disease but rather on how illness and health were <i>understood</i> and <i>managed</i>: by healthcare providers African patients their families and communities. <br/> <br/>Through a sustained interdisciplinary approach Lee brings to the foreground a cast of actors institutions and ideas that both profoundly and intimately shaped African health experiences and outcomes. This book guides the reader through a wide range of historical source material and highlights the theoretical and methodological innovations which have enriched this scholarship. <br/> <br/>Part One delivers a concise historical overview of African health and illness from the long 'pre-colonial' past through the colonial period and into the present day providing an understanding of broad patterns - of major disease challenges experiences of illness and local and global health interventions - and their persistence or transformation across time. Part Two adopts a 'case study' approach focusing on specific health challenges in Africa - HIV/AIDS mental illness tropical disease and occupational disease - and their unfolding across time and space. <br/><br/> <i>Health Healing and Illness in African History</i> is the first wide-ranging survey of this key topic in African history and the history of health and medicine and the ideal introduction for students.