Indigenous Preventive Health Care Practice Similar to Quarantine to Limit the Spread of COVID-19

Page: 495-497
Sejabaledi A. Rankoana (Department of Sociology, Anthropology University of Limpopo, Sovenga, South Africa)

The goal of secondary prevention is to halt the transmission of infectious diseases. This review describes the indigenous preventive health care practice applied to reduce the spread of infectious diseases. Secondary data from medical anthropological studies conducted among the Bapedi group in South Africa’s Limpopo Province were reviewed to identify indigenous preventive practices used to limit infectious disease transmission. The review results present one exceptional indigenous preventive method used as a secondary preventive method. Isolation is a commonly used preventive method used to slow the spread of infectious diseases at the household level for the benefit of the community. This preventive strategy is comparable to the standard quarantine strategy used when someone exhibits COVID-19 symptoms like the flu, a fever, or a cough. The study suggests that preventive health care projects and programs should take into account the preventive health care practices of local communities in order to empower those communities to employ their own cultural practices to reduce illness vulnerability.