'Yaya hankuri da mutani?' - How is your patience with the people? A medical anthropological inquiry into treatment challenges in Abare village, Zamfara Heavy Metal Treatment Project, Nigeria.

The MSF heavy metal poisoning project in Zamfara state has faced persistent challenges specifically in Abare village. The main research question was if there are ´specific cultural reasons for the (…) challenges in Abare, and if yes, (how) can we address them in the coming year, in order to achieve better results (discharge from program as per protocol) for the children in the program?” 3 The three problems the anthropologist was asked to focus on: - Why do patients ´default´? - Children being brought to the clinic by siblings instead of parents - Persistently high BLL despite several courses of chelation in some children.

Document Author(s)
by Annemieke Bont
Publication date
24.06.2015