人类学在全球公共卫生中的角色——以西非埃博拉疫情为例

The Role of Anthropology in the Global Public Health:A Case Study of the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

在全球公共卫生问题频仍的时代,应对工作是一项庞大复杂的社会系统工程,虽以医学为主,但也需要多学科协作,人类学作为人文社会科学的一员,同样能够扮演相应的角色。以西非埃博拉疫情为例,人类学积极主动介入,释放了非凡能量。首先,人类学者创造性地建构了便捷开放的公共平台,凝聚学界群策群力;其次,人类学者不仅生产理论知识,且将之运用到实践,修正与完善疫情的主要应对策略。在此过程中,人类学坚持的立场虽鲜明独特,但并不会否认现代医学的理论基础、治疗原理,恰恰相反,它使疫区民众接受,而不是抵制现代医学的运行方式和机制。

In the era of frequent global public health problems,responding to these problems is a huge,complex and systematic social project.Although medical science is the main player,it also calls for multidisciplinary collaboration.In this regard,anthropology,as a member of the humanities and social sciences,can also play a corresponding role.In the case of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa,anthropology actively intervened and unleashed extraordinary energy.First of all,anthropologists creatively constructed a convenient and open public platform to rally the academic community and gather their wise inputs;and secondly,anthropologists not only put in theoretical knowledge,but also applied it to practice,revising and refining key epidemic response strategies.In this process,although anthropology maintained a distinct and unique position,it did not deny the theoretical basis and therapeutic principles of modern medicine.On the contrary,it made the people in the affected areas accept,rather than resist,the operation mode and mechanism of modern medicine.