Soc Sci Med. 1995 Apr; 40(8): 1141-53.

Home remedies and doctors' remedies in Feira (Brazil).

Ngokwey N.

UNICEF, Dakar, Senegal.

The analysis of popular notions and practices concerning home remedies and pharmaceutical drugs in Feira (Brazil) provides an opportunity to examine the interface, both complementary and conflictual, of different medical traditions. The popular use of drugs is in part modelled after the popular use of traditional remedies and both uses are largely influenced by the epidemiological profile of the community, by local notions of illness and therapeutic efficacy, financial constraints and medicalization processes. The usage of these remedies is also analyzed as a practical logic of popular culture.