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Abstract
Most of the Nepalese population use various forms of traditional medicine (TM) as their primary form of health care. Biomedical health-care services are currently extremely limited and are largely situated in urban settings. Despite widespread reliance on TM in contemporary Nepal, we know relatively little about the roles and uses of traditional medicine and the sociocultural impacts of a diverse therapeutic landscape. Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews with eight Nepalese spiritual healers, this article explores the character of spiritual healing; processes of training and knowledge transfer and the interplay of biomedicine and spiritual healing. The results illustrate the importance of metaphysical referencing and the master–disciple tradition in securing the socio-medical authority of spiritual healers and the protection of ‘the art’ of healing. Furthermore, their accounts reflect the impact of recent biomedically driven development programmes on the contemporary practice of spiritual healing in Nepal. We use this data to argue for further research to examine interplay of different forms of TM and biomedicine in Nepal, and to illustrate the importance of such an understanding for health development projects in the region.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge support of Gokul Mishra and Gyanendra Shrestha for assisting in the fieldwork in Nepal. The financial support for this study was provided by AusAID and School of Humanities and Social Science of the University of Newcastle.
Notes
1. Bodeker et al., WHO Global Atlas; SPHERE, Humanitarian Charter; and WHO, Legal Status of Traditional Medicine.
2. WHO, Legal Status of Traditional Medicine.
3. Broom and Tovey, ‘Inter-Professional Conflict and Strategic Alliance’; Broom et al., ‘The Inequalities of Pluralism’; and Tovey et al., Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
4. Broom and Tovey, ‘Inter-Professional Conflict and Strategic Alliance’.
5. Broom et al., ‘The Inequalities of Pluralism’.
6. For example, Giri, ‘Present Status of Ayurveda System’.
7. CBS, Population Census 2001 and CBS, Rastria Jana-Gananaa 2058.
8. AI, Amnesty International Report 2007.
9. Ibid. and Singh, ‘Impact of Long-Term Political Conflict’.
10. Koirala and Khaniya, ‘Health Practices in Nepal’.
11. Shankar et al., ‘Healing Traditions in Nepal’.
12. Ibid.
13. Koirala and Khaniya, ‘Health Practices in Nepal’.
14. Shankar et al., ‘Healing Traditions in Nepal’.
15. Ibid.
16. Koirala and Khaniya, ‘Health Practices in Nepal’.
17. Shankar et al., ‘Healing Traditions in Nepal’.
18. Giri, ‘Present Status of Ayurveda System’.
19. Koirala and Khaniya, ‘Health Practices in Nepal’.
20. WHO, Legal Status of Traditional Medicine.
21. Parajuli, Naradevi Ayurveda Hospital.
22. DHS, Annual Health Report 2006/2007.
23. Koirala and Khaniya, ‘Health Practices in Nepal’.
24. Tamang, ‘Assessing Community Members’ Understanding and Practices’.
25. Subba et al., Assessment of Health Situation in Eastern Development Region.
26. Giri, ‘Present Status of Ayurveda System’.
27. Koirala,Health Challenges of 21st Century.
28. See also Pigg, ‘The Social Symbolism of Healing’.
29. For example, Broom and Tovey, ‘Inter-Professional Conflict and Strategic Alliance’.
30. CBS, Nepal in Figures.
31. Poudyal et al., ‘Traditional Healers’ Roles’.
32. Holloway et al., ‘Community Intervention to Promote Rational Treatment’.
33. Koirala and Khaniya, ‘Health Practices in Nepal’.