Don't fight the village witchdoctor.
That was the advice to doctors who practice in under-developed countries across the world. It came from Dr. J, R. Audy, University of California
medical sciiooi, in an interview Friday.
"Witch doctors are important in their vallages," he said. "If a doctor tries to fight them, he's going to run into opposition and misunderstanding. A doctor should try to get the witch doctor his side."
Dr. Audy spoke at the opening session of the fourth conference on research needs in tropical medicine at the Louisiana State university school of medicine. UNDERSTANDING URGED The need for a proper understanding of native cultures by doctors was stressed by Dr. Au-dy.
"When doctors try,to impose wester n-type medicine and ideas on these communities," he said, "they end up treating only a few people. Their work is a rnere drop in the bucket. The witch doctors get the mass of the population."
Adapting western methods to native customs and cultures, was suggested by Dr. Audy as the best way to do the job of bringing medical help to these countries.
Doing this, he added, called: for anthropologists, ethnologists, ethnologists, sociologists' and doctors to work together.
If this method isn't used, he said, further research into clinical medicine would be irrational since knowledge wasn't being used effectively.
"More attention should be paid to studying the people asj human animals rather than as! patients," he said. SEES POTENTIAL HAZARD Highlighting the need for this! conference on tropical medi-1 cine's research needs, Dr, William W. Frye, dean of the LSU medical school, said:
"With our present interest in world travel communicable die-seases in any part of the world become a potential hazard to ■the whole world."
Dr. Fyre said that medical \ research into tropical diseases had been lacking.
"Today the question of other countries has become so important politically, economically and socially," he said, "that it is a duty throughout the free world to train scientists and doctors to help solve the problems world medicine."
Other doctors taking part in the informal discussion sessions Friday included Dr. Joseph E. Smadel, Bethesda, Md.; Dr. Harold Brown, New York City; Dr. Nevin S. Scrimshaw, Guatemala; and Dr. O. R. McCoy, New York City. The conference concludes Saturday.
