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Abstract
COVID-19 vaccination in Laos has been affected by challenges in reaching the whole population and preexisting mistrust in the health system. Vaccination rates are low among the Hmong, whose healing epistemologies are rooted in animism and Christianity, while most healthcare staff are from the lowland Buddhist majority. However, local notions of immunity and religious practices are not the main factors influencing confidence in vaccines, as these are flexible and pragmatic in incorporating different approaches to curing illness. Instead, the root causes are patterns of mistrust and inequity enacted through Hmong peoples’ experiences with health services. An innovative government-led initiative focusing on trust-building and local ownership through relational community engagement, utilizing existing village, family, ethnic, and religious structures and promoting effective communication and cultural sensitivity led to a rapid increase in vaccine uptake. Trust in vaccines is therefore not an abstract concept but highly relational, and so can be intentionally developed.
In:
Asian Medicine
Author:
Abstract
In this paper, I explore how both the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, India, and the Bhutanese government utilized Buddhist leaders and religious practices to promote public health measures during the pandemic, considering that there was a high acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccination in these Buddhist communities. I also touch upon how classical Sowa Rigpa understandings of infectious disease transmission and prevention might have played a role in vaccination acceptance. I hypothesize that Buddhist leaders in Dharamsala and in Bhutan were able to utilize their authority to support the advice of their health departments in multiple ways partly because ideas of disease prevention and protection – Sowa Rigpa protective pills, Buddhist rituals, and vaccination history – were already prevalent in the communities. Specifically, I argue that during 2021/22, medico-religious and ritual engagements played a supportive role in COVID-19 vaccination efforts. They reveal different layers of trust, such as in existing public health systems and in religious and political authorities. I raise further questions about how Sowa Rigpa was utilized differently in Dharamsala and Bhutan and to what extent it was integrated into public health efforts. This paper is largely based on articles that were published during the pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
In:
Asian Medicine
New Approaches to Recipe Literature
Series:
Nuncius Series, Volume: 14
Author:
Carolingian Medical Knowledge and Practice explores the practicality and applicability of the medical recipes recorded in early medieval manuscripts. It takes an original, dual approach to these overlooked and understudied texts by not only analysing their practical usability, but by also re-evaluating these writings in the light of osteological evidence. Could those individuals with access to the manuscripts have used them in the context of therapy? And would they have wanted to do so? In asking these questions, this book unpacks longstanding assumptions about the intended purposes of medical texts, offering a new perspective on the relationship between medical knowledge and practice.
New Approaches to Recipe Literature
Series:
Nuncius Series, Volume: 14
Author:
Carolingian Medical Knowledge and Practice explores the practicality and applicability of the medical recipes recorded in early medieval manuscripts. It takes an original, dual approach to these overlooked and understudied texts by not only analysing their practical usability, but by also re-evaluating these writings in the light of osteological evidence. Could those individuals with access to the manuscripts have used them in the context of therapy? And would they have wanted to do so? In asking these questions, this book unpacks longstanding assumptions about the intended purposes of medical texts, offering a new perspective on the relationship between medical knowledge and practice.