NOVAFRICA News: New Blogpost on Bridging Tradition and Science in Healthcare in Rural Guinea-Bissau

NOVAFRICA has released a new blogpost, authored by Nova SBE student and NSG member Artur Costa, on the NOVAFRICA project

“Traditional Beliefs and Health Behaviors: Evidence from Rural West Africa”

Authored by written by Nova SBE and NOVAFRICA Researcher Brais Álvarez-Pereira and NOVAFRICA Scientific Director and Nova SBE Professor Pedro C. Vicente,  joint with Alexander Coutts (York University and NOVAFRICA), Teresa Molina-Millán (University of Alicante and NOVAFRICA) and Nério Cá (NOVAFRICA).

This study shows how health campaigns integrating traditional beliefs can improve outcomes in rural communities. Based on a randomized controlled trial in 180 villages in rural Guinea-Bissau, the study finds that campaigns referencing traditional beliefs and involving Traditional Health Practitioners were significantly more effective than standard scientific messaging alone — increasing health knowledge by 8% and trust in health center staff by 0.13 standard deviations, with the strongest effects among individuals with deeply rooted traditional beliefs.

Read the full NOVAFRICA blogpost here.

Read this  NOVAFRICA working paper here.

Learn more about this NOVAFRICA  project here.