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Chapter 1 - People and the Environment

from Section 1 - Health and Disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2025

By
Yayehyirad Kitaw ,
Mitike Molla ,
Gail Davey  and
Eldryd Parry
Edited by
David Mabey ,
Martin W. Weber ,
Moffat Nyirenda ,
Dorothy Yeboah-Manu ,
Jackson Orem ,
Laura Benjamin ,
Michael Marks  and
Nicholas A. Feasey
David Mabey
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Martin W. Weber
Affiliation:
World Health Organization
Moffat Nyirenda
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Dorothy Yeboah-Manu
Affiliation:
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana
Jackson Orem
Affiliation:
Uganda Cancer Institute, Kampala
Laura Benjamin
Affiliation:
University College London
Michael Marks
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Nicholas A. Feasey
Affiliation:
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
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Summary

Patients will come to consult you as a health-care worker because you have been trained both to define their problem and to deal with it. Good clinical method, with a detailed history and a thorough clinical examination, provides the fundamental foundation from which you can meet their needs. But there is so much more to practicing medicine in Africa than excellent clinical method; it is essential to put the patient into the context of their home, community and wider socio-cultural and political determinants of health. This chapter does this, first through the case history of a 15-year-old girl in rural Ethiopia (Box 1.1).

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Principles of Medicine in Africa , pp. 1 - 19
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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