ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the practice of healing and the experiences of those who seek healthcare in African contexts. It discusses the introduction and reception of biomedicine in the context of existing vernacular healing traditions. It goes on to explore the establishment of biomedicine as a healing tradition in sub-Saharan Africa. I discuss the training of practitioners and the particular social and political contexts in which they practise. The chapter also considers the experiences and perspectives of those who make use of biomedical services and the particular decisions that they make regarding healthcare in a landscape where other healing traditions compete for clients. Drawing on memoirs, primary, and secondary data, the chapter provides insight into the myriad ways that people living south of the Sahara attempt to ward off illness, as well as some of the practitioners they turn to, and the reasons why they do so. The chapter also sheds light on the role of religion in healing traditions and, in some contexts, in decisions to become a healer and which therapeutic interventions to seek.
