Environment, Subsistence and Cholera in Douala, Cameroon

Abstract

Cholera has been an acute disease with millions of recorded deaths in today's developed countries but still remains a threat in developing countries today with poor hygiene and sanitation facilities aggravated by the socioeconomic amongst a large portion of the population. "ENVIRONMENT, SUBSISTENCE AND CHOLERA IN DOUALA'' seeks to explore the notion of sanitation and cholera as illness in Negro-African sociocultural which is often centred at the level of manifestation of ill health called illness when it becomes sickness once the whole society is involved as AuthurKleinman. Qualitative method with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used. The interpretation of absence of health be it illness or sickness is often linked to the system of norms and values as well as the belief system. Although modern education does vulgarise the biomedical conceptualisation of disease, it falls short of reversing the merging of beliefs and biomedical models. The populations do not neglect absence of hygiene and sanitation for instance but still interpret symptoms within culture. This explains why knowledge on cholera aetiology may not be sufficient in its combat because of basic personalities and prevailing socioeconomic situation and space management.