ABSTRACT
Biomedicine has a global power to spread its philosophy all over the world. This article examines how the globalization of biomedicine is associated with the localization of illness by the people of Yemen, from a cultural anthropological view. Since the 1990' s, the Yemeni government has developed a strategy to promote good health along with international organizations and the cooperation of developed countries. Yemenis currently are familiar with biomedicine due to the development of the medical infrastructure and health publicity. The globalization of biomedicine is making progress in Yemen. At the same time, Yemenis interpret biomedical names of diseases as their own illness in association with the traditional view of illness in Yemen. Then, they choose the actions against illness or care suitable to their society. This is a localization process of illness for people who must live with their own suffering. This result implies that it is necessary to consider how total health care, in addition to biomedical diagnoses and treatment, provides for ill people who have locally identified illness.
ABSTRACT
The Republic of Yemen has a long history of plural medical systems since thous and s year's age. Hejaama, an Arabian term for cupping and bloodletting, is one of medical procedure which still has been using to treat various ailments in Yemen since the pre-Islamic period. In this article, Hejaama is described as ethnic medical practice based on the anthropological study in Sana'a, Yemen, and is discussed from the cultural point of view. The findings, which are mainly collected from the participant observation in the female practitioner's clinic and interviews to female patients, lead to the following conclusions. First, the Yemenis' concept of blood or blood related illness is closely linked to the treatment of Hejaama. Yemenis believe that "bad blood" is accumulated in a specific place of their body and it causes pain. The Hejaama practice is very effective to relieve the pain because it can be removed such "bad blood" from the body. Moreover, Hejaama is recognized as the treatment for the people who have chronic pain, and not an all-purpose treatment. Patients choose the Hejaama practice by themselves for the relief of their pain from the various alternative medical procedures. Furthermore, Hejaama is understood as a religious activity, even though the practice may be not exactly Islamic in origin. In addition, Hejaama can be acted as the group therapy to ultimately relieve suffering. Hejaama is even now in dem and by many people of Yemen, as the quick and simple treatment for chronic pain.
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Male , Bloodletting , Medicine, Traditional , Mental Healing , ReligionABSTRACT
Chewing qat leaves, Cathula Edulis, is now a very common behavioul among the people of the mountainous areas of Yemen. For about the past 20 years, in tandem with national development. qat chewing hay been rapidly expanding, and the use of chemical pesticlde4 in qat production has been increasing. In this study the adverse effects on human health of qat chewing combined with pesticide use were investigated. Results of interviews and questionnaires showed that chewers of qat grown with Sew or no chemical pesticides and chewers of qat grown with chemical pesticides have considerably different subjective symptoms. Chewers of qat produced in fields where chemical pesticides are used regularly have more symptoms than chewers of qat produced in fields where chemical pesticides are rarely or never used. Chewers of qat produced with more chemical pesticides, in particular, experience acute adverse effects on the digestive system and chronic adverse effects such as body weakness and nasal problems. Farmers who chew homemade qat on which they spread chemical pesticides by themselves may have the highest health risks regarding the combination of qat and pesticides. It is concluded that chewing qat grown with chemical pesticides causes considerable adverse health effects in human beings