ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on important aspects of the professional competition between Western-trained practitioners and their indigenous counterparts. In this competition reference is often made to the lack of scientific knowledge within the indigenous sector. The chapter compares the production and dissemination of medical knowledge within the two types of medical systems. It discusses the type of medical knowledge which needs to be uncovered within the indigenous system. The indigenous system is also faced with the conflicting interests of the elite, which leads to a certain amount of ambivalence. While there are nationalistic interests encouraging the development of African medical traditions, there are also professional, financial, and deep personal interests in the way medicine is presently organised. Preventive health behaviour may arise out of the noted relationship. In Nigeria, pregnant women are not to be frightened or allowed to see frightful animals lest their babies be deformed.
