Samban/tutulak and immunization: The sick concept of dayak tribes in the context of modern life

Immunization is one of the intervention in health that is widely regarded as the most successful and cost effective intervention. Contrary to that achievement, more than 19 million children in the world still have not received complete basic immunization and current immunization coverage of the world shows no improvement. This fact also happened in the Balangan district where the several Dayak tribes settle. However, based on the preliminary study the Dayak tribes have traditional illnesses’ prevention i.e. the use of the samban/tutulak for their children. Hence, the aim of this paper is to explore and discuss the concept of samban/tutulak and immunization and the sick concept of Dayak tribes in the context of modern life. This article is based on the result of ethnographic qualitative research conducted in April to October 2018. Data collected through in-depth interview with 41 informants and participatory observation. In general the purpose of immunization and the use of samban/tutulak is the same which is to protect children from diseases and make children stay healthy. Both immunization and the samban/tutulak are intented to develop immunity for the children. Immunization develops immunity artificially whereas the use of samban/tutulak develops the immunity naturally. The use samban/tutulak in protecting the health of children in Dayak is the consequences of the sick concept believed by the Dayak tribe.