In search of a cure : experiences in alternative medicine in Masvingo Urban, Zimbabwe

Abstract

This thesis examines the consumption patterns of Asian alternative medicines in Masvingo urban. My focus was on understanding the flourishing of the Asian cures in the Zimbabwe’s oldest city by focusing on the distributor, the consumer and the environment characterising the discourse on alternative medicine. The major arguments point to a changing landscape of the experience of health and healing due to several factors. I argue that macro politico-economic factors and cultural issues are responsible for structuring the consumption of Asian alternative medicines. The political and economic crisis has had a huge bearing on the health sector hence spurring the emergence of alternatives which seek to fill in the gap and simultaneously offer an opportunity of income to many individuals whose livelihoods cannot be sufficiently met through the formal channels. On the other hand, the political leanings of the country towards the East have brought with it an influx of Eastern products and health remedies. I also argue that local cultural factors are responsible for the patterns in which the medicines have found place in the city since they claim to deal with issues which are of cultural and social significance to the people in the study.