ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the health-seeking behaviour of subjects in a medically plural context of rural south-western Bangladesh. It explores the healing options that are available to arsenicosis patients. The initial treatment of ghaa usually starts at home with self-treatment using either home remedies or herbal medicines that are known to be effective in treating specific diseases based on indigenous pharmacology. In terms of healing techniques, different methods are employed by different kobiraj. Homeopathic medicine, as developed by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann in the early nineteenth century, is based on the principle of similia similibus curentur. The Upazilla Health Complex (UHC) is the nearest referral public hospital that provides professional biomedical health care services to the population of this region. Pathological and diagnostic facilities are also offered free of charge, although many pieces of equipment remain non-functional due to technical faults.
