The primary focus of the Anthropology and Public Health partnership is the study of people.
Several sub-disciplinary foci and methods of Anthropology ranging from Medical and
Ecological Anthropology to use of Systematic, Descriptive, and Qualitative methods have
proven effective in identifying context-specific factors that contribute to health and disease
outcomes. Anthropological theories and methods are crucial for translating public health
knowledge into effective action by enhancing the acceptability and effectiveness of proven
practices in clinic settings and developing policy for the provision of complex treatment
regimens for emerging epidemics under conditions of inequity in access to health care. Many
of the public health issues are not amenable to study using controlled clinical trials and
require population perspectives of the problem. Anthropologists work in collaboration with
the local participants and provide crucial understandings of public health problems from the
perspectives of the populations in which the problems occur. The understanding of “locals” in
anthropology also facilitate in examining the activities of public health institutions and the
successes and failures of public health programs.
In this panel, we invite participants:
To consider Anthropological theories and methods to address public health problems.
To reflect on the anthropological interventions for the evaluation of the public health
programs and institutions.
