Sorcery and witchcraft beliefs on the front line of public health response in Papua New Guinea and beyond

Abstract

Across the globe today, many communities refer to sorcery or witchcraft to explain misfortune of all kinds, including sickness, death and disability.1 This is certainly the case in Papua New Guinea, a highly diverse country of approximately 9 million people, where belief in sorcery is widespread across all sectors of society, including among those in leadership positions, the justice sector and health care.2 We discuss the implications of these beliefs for public health professionals. While beliefs in sorcery and witchcraft also play a role in traditional healing practices, our focus is on the harmful results of these beliefs and is not intended to advocate against traditional healers per se, as it is recognized that they can and do play an important role in primary health care. The question of the extent to which traditional healers, diviners and religious leaders can play a positive role in helping to prevent the harms generated by witchcraft beliefs is an important one requiring further research. While this paper focuses on Papua New Guinea, sorcery beliefs are widespread in many places worldwide.3 Even in high-income countries, there has been increased recognition of the harms generated by witchcraft beliefs. Show more