CULTURE AND GENETIC SCREENING IN AFRICA
CULTURE AND GENETIC SCREENING IN AFRICA
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1471-8847.2009.00259.x
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发表时间：
2009-12-01
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
Jegede, Ayodele S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jegede, Ayodele S.
非洲是一个处于文化习俗复兴之中的转型大陆。在过去的几年里，非洲大陆被围绕其文化遗产的毫无根据的文化习俗剥夺了医学进步的好处。在基因筛查这样一个快速发展的领域，社会和政策方面的讨论经常需要在早期阶段进行，以避免西方医学遇到的困境。本文探讨了非洲基因筛查面临的潜在挑战。它讨论了文化实践可能如何影响基因筛查。它将基因组科学视为一种试图向另一种文化扩散的文化。它认为，了解现有的文化将有助于传播过程。该文件通过评估非洲大陆目前的疾病负担水平，强调了基因筛查对非洲的重要性，并展示了其在减少疾病流行方面的作用。文章指出并讨论了非洲大陆基因筛查可能面临的文化挑战，如世界观、仪式和禁忌、一夫多妻制、重男轻女文化等。它还讨论了可能促进这一科学的文化习俗，如继承习俗、配偶选择惯例和命名模式。确定并讨论了推动文化挑战的因素，如社会化进程、父权制、性别、信仰体系等。最后，本文讨论了今后的方向，并强调了在非洲大陆进行基因筛查的伦理考虑。然而，论文也认识到，非洲文化不是铁板一块，因此有例外的理由。
Africa is a continent in transition amidst a revival of cultural practices. Over previous years the continent was robbed of the benefits of medical advances by unfounded cultural practices surrounding its cultural heritage. In a fast moving field like genetic screening, discussions of social and policy aspects frequently need to take place at an early stage to avoid the dilemma encountered by Western medicine. This paper, examines the potential challenges to genetic screening in Africa. It discusses how cultural practices may affect genetic screening. It views genomics science as a culture which is trying to diffuse into another one. It argues that understanding the existing culture will help the diffusion process. The paper emphasizes the importance of genetic screening for Africa, by assessing the current level of burden of diseases in the continent and shows its role in reducing disease prevalence. The paper identifies and discusses the cultural challenges that are likely to confront genetic screening on the continent, such as the worldview, rituals and taboos, polygyny, culture of son preference and so on. It also discusses cultural practices that may promote the science such as inheritance practices, spouse selection practices and naming patterns. Factors driving the cultural challenges are identified and discussed, such as socialization process, patriarchy, gender, belief system and so on. Finally, the paper discusses the way forward and highlights the ethical considerations of doing genetic screening on the continent. However, the paper also recognizes that African culture is not monolithic and therefore makes a case for exceptions.