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Understanding perceptions on 'Buruli' in northwestern Uganda: A biosocial investigation.

Pearson, G (2018) Understanding perceptions on 'Buruli' in northwestern Uganda: A biosocial investigation. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 12 (7). e0006689. ISSN 1935-2735 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006689
SGUL Authors: Pearson, Georgina Frances Coleridge

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: An understudied disease, little research thus far has explored responses to Buruli ulcer and quests for therapy from biosocial perspective, despite reports that people seek biomedical treatment too late. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Taking an inductive approach and drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in 2013-14, this article presents perspectives on this affliction of people living and working along the River Nile in northwest Uganda. Little is known biomedically about its presence, yet 'Buruli', as it is known locally, was and is a significant affliction in this region. Establishing a biosocial history of 'Buruli', largely obscured from biomedical perspectives, offers explanations for contemporary understandings, perceptions and practices. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We must move beyond over-simplifying and problematising 'late presentation for treatment' in public health, rather, develop biosocial approaches to understanding quests for therapy that take into account historical and contemporary contexts of health, healing and illness. Seeking to understand the context in which healthcare decisions are made, a biosocial approach enables greater depth and breadth of insight into the complexities of global and local public health priorities such as Buruli ulcer.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2018 Georgina Pearson. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Keywords: Tropical Medicine, 06 Biological Sciences, 11 Medical And Health Sciences
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: Academic Structure > Population Health Research Institute (INPH)
Journal or Publication Title: PLoS Negl Trop Dis
ISSN: 1935-2735
Language: eng
Dates:
DateEvent
30 July 2018Published
16 July 2018Accepted
Publisher License: Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
PubMed ID: 30059497
Web of Science ID: WOS:000440495700063
Go to PubMed abstract
URI: https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/110031
Publisher's version: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006689

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