ABSTRACT
This chapter situates illness and health in the context of African religions. Indigenous traditions consider ailments and afflictions as symptoms of a disturbance in a web of social and spiritual relations. Illness is a moral dilemma or spiritual crisis as much as a medical matter. This holistic view of health also shapes healing strategies among African Christians and Muslims for whom God is the ultimate healer. In the absence of nationalized health systems in Africa there has been a resurgence of faith-based health providers. African healing practices do not necessarily compete with Western biomedicine, but complement it to address the full circumstance of disease, including structural inequality and the “pathology of power”. Underscoring the notion of a holistic “healthworld”, this chapter examines how large-scale political and economic relations affect the current state of healthcare in Africa. It investigates the possibilities and limits of traditional herbal medicine. Finally, it takes up specific healing practices among African Muslims and Christians, for example, how churches are re-interpreting sexuality to manage the HIV epidemic. Finding effective approaches to health care in times of HIV and AIDS, Ebola and Zika presents a profound medical and moral crisis for Africa and the entire globe.
