Self-care and the informal sale of drugs in South Cameroon

Sjaak Van Der Geest

Social Science & Medicine, 1987, vol. 25, issue 3, 293-305

Abstract: Self-care, though the most common of all forms of therapeutic action, has been little studied. This paper describes the context of self-medication with western pharmaceuticals in an area of South Cameroon (in 1980). The identity and appropriateness of these pharmaceuticals are briefly discussed. The paradoxical character of self-medication is emphasised: improvement in the quality of self-medication implies both growth and loss of self reliance, increase and decrease of medicalisation. People in Cameroon, or indeed anywhere in the Third World, find themselves in a 'double-bind'.

Keywords: self-care; self-medication; pharmaceuticals; informal; sector; Cameroon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1987
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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