‘Man & Woman Cream’ herbal cream to enhance sexual function, purchased in Ghana, unknown manufacturer, c2010.

The outer packaging of this item gives no information about its contents nor advertises what the perceived benefits might be. Its guarded presentation may indicate a sense of secrecy around sexual health to fit with cultural and societal norms.

Purchased from a travelling trader called Comfort Owusu, this item is one of several collected for the Science Museum by Jonathan Roberts, lecturer at Mount Saint Vincent University and a specialist in the history of medicine and religion in West Africa. Jonathan’s work focuses on the many forms of healing present in Accra, Ghana, where people have a range of choices in the healthcare they seek and the way. Practices and treatments encountered from different cultures are selectively absorbed and sold, fusing together different medical and healing systems.