Towards Promoting An African Medical System: A critique of government responses to claims of a cure for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, 1986-2007

Authors

  • S. B. Amusa Department of History, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/hcs.2013.111

Keywords:

Africa, AIDS cure, Colonialism, HIV/AIDS, Westernisation.

Abstract

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been described as the greatest health challenge of our era. Aside from Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment (HAART), the virus has defied any other form of permanent cure or disease control. The continents of Africa and Asia are the worst-hit areas by the scourge of the pandemic. Yet in Africa, there have been claims of HIV/AIDS being cured by African indigenous medical practitioners. Our paper examines the official responses of the Federal Government of Nigeria to such claims. We will examine the emergence and national responses to the epidemic in Nigeria and assess the government’s contempt for the efforts of indigenous medical practitioners in the quest for a viable cure. We conclude by asserting that until African governments realize, recognize and appropriate indigenous medical achievements into mainstream health strategy and policy, Africa will not only remain at the periphery of global health systems but will also continue to be ravaged by HIV/AIDS.


Author Biography

S. B. Amusa, Department of History, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

AMUSA Saheed Balogun teaches Nigerian and African history at the Department of History, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria where he is also a researcher. Previous research has included a thesis on “A History of HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Nigeria, 1981-2007” written in 2010. His research has appeared in reputable academic journals within and outside Nigeria such as the African Journal of AIDS Research (AJAR) and the Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria (JHSN). His main areas of research  are contemporary issues in Nigerian social and political history.

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Published

2013-05-17

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2013): Ways of Seeing: Causes and Beliefs

Section

Articles

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