Pharmaceutical Anthropology: Perspectives for Research and Application

Abstract

This collection of papers offers an anthropological perspective on pharmaceuticals in developing countries. It assembles contributions that describe the context of medicines and stress the cultural relativity of their transaction and meaning. We hope that the volume will be seen as a beginning — a first step in the development of a new and exciting research field in medical anthropology. Therefore, it seems appropriate to end the book with a preliminary stocktaking and some suggestions for future research in pharmaceutical anthropology. The final section of this chapter will discuss the possibilities of using this research for improving conditions of drug consumption in developing countries.