Toward Sustainable Understanding of Health: Perception and Worldview on Erectile Dysfunction in Nigeria

Abstract

In a bid to achieve sustainable development, there is a need for a connection and integration of indigenous knowledge systems and western knowledge (medicine), most especially in the area of health care. In a bid to achieve sustainable development in the health care system, there is a need for a deeper understanding of diseases in terms of their perception among indigenous people based on their indigenous knowledge, consumption, and lifestyle. This will help in designing a sustainable health system. This chapter adopts Idakole (erectile dysfunction)-a unique sexual ailment peculiar to men as a narrative to contribute significantly to knowledge. This chapter, therefore, investigates the gap in knowledge as regards the perception of Idakole in Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State. The closest ailment to Idakole in western medicine is erectile dysfunction. Regarding the perception of Idakole (erectile dysfunction), the chapter examines the perspectives of indigenous and western knowledge systems. Of essence is the fact that the understanding of Idakole in the indigenous system differs in some regards to erectile dysfunction in western medicine. The chapter explores the knowledge gap in terms of the constructions, experiences, and treatment pathways of erectile dysfunction through local contextual research in Ibadan, South-western Nigeria. The findings in the chapter were based on a qualitative study conducted in 2018. A series of in-depth and key informant interviews and a period of six months of interactions were conducted with key stakeholders, including local herbal medicine sellers, local aphrodisiac sellers, men with erectile dysfunction, and urologists.