The Nung’s Traditional Concepts of Healthcare

Abstract

This article takes an ethnologically cultural approach to examine the traditional concepts of healthcare among the Nung, one of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. The study shows that traditional concepts of healthcare among the Nung still exist in the face of growing influences by modern medicine in their community. In this case, however, these traditional concepts are dynamic and flexible. Traditional and modern approaches to medicine combine and compliment each other, creating a new manner of healthcare. Studying the practice of and conceptions of healthcare in the Nung community can lead to better and more effective healthcare projects at the local level.