Health and Anthropology
Coronavirus disease is also known as COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus. The virus rose from Wuhan in China towards the end of the year 2019 and has affected several people globally. The damages caused by COVID- 19 are quite significant, with more than three thousand deaths associated with coronavirus and the possibility of a few from undiagnosed diseases. Medical experts have been fighting to minimize the spread of the virus and come up with vaccines, but it is evident that the consequences of the pandemic have been felt beyond the public health sector. Governments have developed various policies to prevent the spread of the virus among the rules include home isolation, medical experts have suggested that interaction between people escalated the widespread of the coronavirus. To fight it, therefore, countries have initiated a lockdown and self-quarantine procedure to minimize interaction between different people. To further achieve the policy of social distancing, governments ordered the cancellation of any form of social gatherings like worship services, weddings, and religious festivals. Some countries implemented the lockdown, which demanded that people stay indoors except for essential activities.
Anthropology refers to the study of ancient humans and primates to understand evolutionary origins, the distinct nature of humans and the diverse forms of their existence around the world. Anthropologists study widely the aspects of human culture, language, biological life, societies, material remains and the behaviour of early humans as well as habits. This field of research involves the use of various technologies and ideas to allow the detection of these aspects in greater detail. Anthropology is in four different categories, including archeology which studies the elements of human culture using the objects they made and used also known as the material remains examples of these objects were farm tools, pottery. Also, archeology involved tracing the location of houses, burials, and pits to study the lives of early men. Studying the bone and teeth remains to understand their diet and diseases. Another category of anthropology is called biological anthropology which dwells on how humans adapted to different environs, the causes of diseases and death as well as the story of evolution. This study is mainly carried out by studying primates like apes, monkey chimpanzees, and even human fossils. Social anthropology monitors and analyzes different social practices relating to how they live in different places and relate to each other. Lastly, linguistic anthropology which studies the various means humans were able to communicate and its relation to how we relate presently.
Anthropology presents a suitable framework to understand human experiences and implications of coronavirus since anthropology is the framework that allows for the formation of this virus. Scientists argue that to outline the aspects out human responses to the epidemic, it covers issues of wearing protective clothing, effects of human races as well as tracing the rituals done during burials. These aspects would increase the understanding of materials and technologies used in the control of these epidemics. Several articles indicate that historical questions and those of anthropology related to control of outbreaks are still quite a number. And they provide new ways to manage these epidemics, issues of mortality and the vulnerability
of humans during and after the pandemics. It is, therefore, that the control measures of breakouts of infectious disease are based on anthropology studies.
In this essay, I will talk about two anthropologists Allan of Case Western Reserve University and Kirin Narayan of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Allan Young, in his paper, talked about the implications of medical beliefs and practices from social anthropology. His idea was that for medical practices and beliefs to stick on a human’s mind, they have to view them as useful. He explores the effects of traditional approaches to medical and social and environmental impacts. He, therefore, sticks to his point that people persist in conventional medical practices for the reason that they effectively deal with undesirable conditions like pandemics of an infectious disease. To explain young’s idea, the discovery of their social and practical meanings is essential. The analysis of actual meaning is not based on the scientific nature of medicine. Still, the empirical view of medicine is giving a clear difference in what the people expect and what they expect.
Medical anthropology studies the relationship between health and illnesses and different cultures. Medical anthropology uses ethnographic methods to do research and to collect data. Medical anthropology involves doing a comprehensive study of the community. In this case, the anthropologist lives with the community and study and observes their day to day behaviour. Different cultures have different beliefs that are influenced by some factors such as religion, historical background, social and economic practices. Medical anthropologists will use anthropological methods to understand how different cultures in the world interpret the coronavirus pandemic, why people from certain cultures experience severe symptoms and are profoundly affected by the epidemic compared to other countries where people are hardly hit by covid19. Medical anthropologists study distribution of covid19 across groups, traditional medical practices available for different groups hit by covid19 pandemic.
In conclusion, anthropology is a crucial aspect in the understanding of covid19 pandemic.understanding the different communities hit by the pandemic; their cultural beliefs and practices will play a significant role in containing the virus.