African communalism and public health policies: the relevance of indigenous concepts of personal identity to HIV/AIDS policies in Botswana

Abstract

This article explores the possible relevance of African communalism to HIV/AIDS policies in Botswana and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. We examine various interpretations of African communalism, which many consider to be the cardinal insight of African thought. We  suggest several applications of this indigenous notion of personhood to HIV prevention in general and to routine HIV-testing policies in particular. This analysis demonstrates some of the ethical dilemmas and cultural complexities inherent in designing as well as implementing effective HIV-prevention programmes that strike a conscientious balance between protecting individual freedoms and securing public health. Recovering past traditions (such as African conceptions of personal identity) is valuable not only for the purpose of self-identification but also for helping us meet the challenges and problems  of today in Africa. We also suggest that the human-rights-based  approach to HIV prevention, which strives to protect individuals, is possibly incompatible with the socio-ethical ideals espoused by African communalism. We conclude that public health programmes in Botswana and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa would be more effective if those who designed and implemented them possessed a better understanding of indigenous conceptions of personhood or  human agency as well as existing ethno-medical beliefs and cultural practices.

Keywords: African philosophy, ethics, ethno-philosophy, HIV testing, policy development, socio-ethical systems, sub-Saharan Africa

African Journal of AIDS Research 2010, 9(3): 297–305