Field Story

Strengthening Community Surveillance Through Local Healers

Written by Lydia Bologna, CGPP Communications Technical Advisor

Huda Hussain is Gama settlement’s main medicine man. As the traditional healer for this Kano State locale, villagers seek his counsel for a wide range of illnesses and ailments – from malaria and malnutrition to anemia and arthritis. He offers advice and provides herbal remedies from his ‘pharmacy’ – three rows of plastic and glass jars filled with herbs, powders and natural medicines.