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Article Title: Healthcare Delivery In Africa: An Examination Of The Collaborative Effort Of The Indigenous And Western Health Providers In Esan, Edo State
by Dr. Thomas Oseyi Ebhomienlen

Abstract:
This paper discusses diviners, healthcare and illness and the type of diseases or illnesses that require the services of these diviners in the context of African traditional spirituality and science. In many parts of Africa, especially the indigenous societies, diviners or soothsayers are consulted for different purposes, paramount among which is the attainment of good health. The study revealed that diviners play a crucial role in establishing the cause and treatment of diseases in many communities. The study further establishes that many diseases require the consultation of diviners before any intervention takes place, especially diseases whose etiology are embedded in the worldview of the local people. Such psychosomatic diseases are diagnosed and managed by indigenous healthcare providers. For instance, certain illnesses require ritual healing and sacrifice. In such cases different items including river sand, cowries mixed with stones and bones, sticks and water are all used by diviners to trace the source of afflictions. The work discovers that the neglect of the indigenous health workers dwindle the effort of holistic health attainment, hence, it argues that the collaborative struggle of the traditional and western health providers will facilitate maximum health assessment. The scope of this work is Esan in Edo State, Nigeria. To realize the set objective of this paper, the writer adopts the descriptive and the phenomenological methods. The study recommends the integration of divination with orthodox health care technology to achieve a holistic health care. Keywords:

Keywords: Diviners; Healthcare; Indigenous; Western

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