Medical Anthropology Course

Health anthropology is the study of the influence of cultural elements on people‘s appreciation of disease and health (Solita Sarwono, 1993). The definition made by Solita is still very narrow because anthropology itself is not limited to only looking at the appreciation of society and the influence of cultural elements only. Anthropology is a broader study than that, as Koentjaraningrat said that anthropology studies humans from physical, social and cultural aspects (1984; 76). The definition of health anthropology proposed by Foster/Anderson is the correct concept because it is embedded in the definition of anthropology as stated by Koentjaraningrat above. According to Foster/Anderson, Health Anthropology examines health and disease problems from two different poles, namely the biological pole and the socio-cultural pole.