‘It is the antichrist. Can't you see?’ Perceptions of COVID-19 among Nigeria's Christians and the Religion—Health Debate

Abstract

How does religion influence health? Responses to this question have shown that religious beliefs could have positive and negative effects on people's health This paper focuses on religion's influence on how believers perceive and deal with diseases, and it aims to contribute to the debate by considering how COVID-19 was interpreted in Sub-Saharan Africa's Nigeria, which has been regarded as very religious, partly because the majority of her citizens identify as Christians or Muslims It explores perceptions of COVID-19 in the country using data collected between March and May 2020, from (a) in-depth interviews with Christians in various states in the southern part of the country, (b) Facebook polls and (c) articles and readers' comments on the websites of Nigeria's Punch and Vanguard Newspapers The findings corroborate the notion that (a) religion could have a negative influence on people's views about, and responses to, diseases, and that (b) religious organisations could serve as helpful partners in the fight against diseases However, the data also demonstrate how the religious responses occurred within a context of political failure, which, in turn, is a major threat to public health in Nigeria This suggests that to understand and successfully deal with the negative religious and cultural views about diseases in societies where such unhelpful relationships exist, it may be useful to consider how wider political and socio-economic realities help to shape those perceptions or the preference for religious sources of interpretation and healing [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Studies in World Christianity is the property of Edinburgh University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )