PURVEYORS OF HYBRID MEDICAL SERVICES IN WÄLLO: THE MĀRFIE WĀGIE, 1940S-1970S

The limitations of modern western medicine following the Italian expulsion in 1941 created space for a range of alternative therapies to flourish. No longer persecuted, and officially recognized by the state, cleric/non-secular and other forms of indigenous healing modalities thrived during the Imperial era. A new system of therapy that combined indigenous medical knowledge with allopathic medical practice, particularly of the ‘injectionists’, ‘injectors’ or’ needlemen’ (Amh: mārfie wāgie) emerged during this period. Consequently, older forms of indigenous therapeutics underwent transformations in response to changing social conditions, including the growth and proliferation of modern medical ideas and technologies. These situations assisted therapeutic pluralism to be a feature of the post-Italian medical landscape. People seeking medical treatments during the imperial era picked up their therapeutic preference/s from this pluralistic healthcare delivery system. There are very few and fragmentary researches on the subject in Ethiopia. This study relying heavily on archival and oral sources provides a critical historical account on the training, degree of acceptance and popularity of ‘injectionists’ who provided an alternative medical service in Wällo, Ethiopia. While full references are given in the bibliography, the following acronyms are used in the in-text citations: Dässie Hospital (DH); Dessie Zuria Workers’ Party (DZWP); Imperial Ethiopian Government (IEG); Ministry of Health (MoH); Ministry of Public Health (MoPH); Ministry of Interior (MoI); Municipality of Dässie (MoD); Wällo Provincial Governorate Office (WPGO); Wällo Provincial Health Department (WPHD).