Health and illness are areas that have always preoccupied the human mind because they have a social as well as a biological basis. Western medical beliefs and practices have ended up replacing traditional beliefs because they seek to control this phenomenon through the scientific and technical regulation of the body, unlike traditional beliefs which considered diseases on sociological bases. The Azande people who live in southern Sudan are a traditional society who believe in the existence of ancestral spirits and witchcraft. Witchcraft, considered a mystical and innate power, was possessed by some members of the community. These forces control their worldview on different issues, including health and disease. In this community, illnesses and other misfortunes are caused by witchcraft. According to Pritchard, the spirit of the Azande community helped them explain problems in traditional society the way science does today. This belief in witchcraft, for example, explains why an individual contracted an illness. Even if an Azande member knew that the illness he was suffering from, he would suspect witchcraft to blame it on the enemies around him. The Balinese who live in a small island in Indonesia also practice traditional medicine instead of modern medicine. treatment of diseases. According to this community, illness results from a lack of balance between the internal and external environment of the individual and the divine nature. Therefore, when treating an illness, the traditional healer emphasizes the mental, emotional and physical state of the sick person. Healing also requires that the sick person be fully willing to get better. These traditional healers, often known as Balian Tapakan, receive their... middle of paper ...... advocate their theories and beliefs about certain diseases (Horton 1970). Reference List: Connor, LH 1996. Balinese Healing. In LH Connor, P Asch and T Asch Jero Takapan: Balinese healer. Los Angeles: University of California, Ethnographics Press. Chapter 3. Evans-Pritchard, EE 1937. The notion of witchcraft explains unfortunate events. In Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 63-83. Chapter IV.Parsons, T. 1951. The social system. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press. Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/public-health encyclopedia/illness-sick-role-behavior Horton R. l970. “Traditional African Thought and Western Science.” In B. Wilson, ed. Rationality, NY: Harper and Row, pp. l3l-l7l.7 Nettleton, Sarah .1995. The sociology of health and illness, Polity Press. Retrieved from: http://csp.sagepub.com/content/16/48/33.abstract