Abstract
Peste des Petits ruminants (PPR) is a potentially lethal, highly contagious viral disease of sheep and goats. Domestic sheep and goats are important species for the livelihoods of poor people in many developing countries. Within societies where PPR is now spreading, poverty is widespread and the disease is expected to have significant negative impacts on livelihoods. In resource-constrained marginalised societies, it is often difficult to collect disease data in conventional ways. Participatory epidemiology (PE) has been suggested as a particularly suitable research method to study epidemiology and social impacts of diseases in these contexts. However, for PE to achieve its full potential, stronger efforts to achieve true participation and to incorporate lessons about participation and power from the social sciences may be required. This review shows that social science engagement in PE to date is virtually non-existent, but that increased efforts to draw lessons from the social sciences and to increase the degree of participation in PE could increase its potential as an important tool in disease impact assessment and control. Particular attention is paid here to the potential role of PE in future research on the epidemiology and control of PPR.
Highlights
Peste des Petits ruminants (PPR) is an economically important and highly contagious viral disease of sheep and goats
Participatory epidemiology (PE) has its roots in participatory rural appraisal (PRA) (Chambers, 1994), an interdisciplinary methodology which in recent years has benefited from significant scrutiny and revision through its engagement with social science (Kapoor, 2002)
We examine whether increased engagement within PE with the social science debates on participatory research and research on marginalised groups has the potential to facilitate the development of such research and, by extension, the eradication or control of PPR
Summary
Where is the Participation in Participatory Epidemiology? How Engagement with Social Science could lead to Improved Understanding and Control of Peste des Petits Ruminants. Abstract | Peste des Petits ruminants (PPR) is a potentially lethal, highly contagious viral disease of sheep and goats. Peste des Petits ruminants (PPR) is an economically important and highly contagious viral disease of sheep and goats. Participatory epidemiology (PE) has been suggested as a suitable methodology for both implementing disease control practices and for researching the epidemiology and social impacts of diseases in such contexts (Leach and Scoones, 2013; Catley et al, 2012; Mariner et al, 2012). This paper reviews the social science engagement to date in PE, as a branch of PRA, and examines how increased efforts to draw lessons from the social sciences and truly include local participation in PE could improve its potential as an important tool in disease impact assessment and disease control. Lack of sufficient resources in the veterinary service system in many of the affected countries is most likely contributing to the current failure to manage PPR (Perry et al, 2013; Perry and Grace, 2009; Forman et al, 2012; de Balogh et al, 2013)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have