COVID-19, gender and health : recentring women in African indigenous health discourses in Zimbabwe for environmental conservation
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Authors
Manyonganise, Molly
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
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AOSIS
Abstract
In precolonial Africa, women were the major authorities in herbal remedies within their own homes and at the community level, where they focused on disease prevention and cure. Such roles were pushed to the periphery of Africa’s health discourse by the introduction of Western modes of healing. Furthermore, missionaries branded African indigenous medicine (AIM) as evil and categorised it within the sphere of witchcraft. However, the emergence of new diseases which conventional medicine has found difficult to cure seems to have caused Africans to rethink their position on AIM. For example, there appears to have been a resurgence of interest in utilising AIMs during the coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19) pandemic. Greater utilisation, while positive, may lead to herbs and plants becoming extinct if the harvesting is done haphazardly. Therefore, the intention of this article is to examine the intersections of gender and health in the COVID-19 context. The article seeks to establish the role that was and continues to be played by women in the utilisation of AIM within the context of COVID-19. The focus of the paper is on finding out the ways in which women are safeguarding plants and trees whose leaves, roots and barks are envisioned as effective in preventing infection as well as curing the disease. Data were gathered through informal interviews. Theoretically, the article makes use of gender and Afrocentricity as theories informing the study.
Description
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
Keywords
African indigenous medicine, Environment, Gender, Healing, Health, Herbs, Pandemic, Plants, Women, Zimbabwe, COVID-19 pandemic, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG-03: Good health and well-being
SDG-05: Gender equality
SDG-10: Reduced inequalities
SDG-13: Climate action
SDG-15: Life on land
SDG-05: Gender equality
SDG-10: Reduced inequalities
SDG-13: Climate action
SDG-15: Life on land
Citation
Manyonganise, M., 2023, ‘COVID-19, gender and health: Recentring women in African indigenous health discourses in Zimbabwe for environmental conservation’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 79(3), a7941. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v79i3.7941.