Some cultural realities and linguistic considerations are discussed that public health providers can use to make preventive health care delivery more effective and acceptable in several developing countries. The case of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria is used as an example. Two points are addressed: the question of the usefulness of specific aspects of the elements of health in these cultures for mass public health education and treatment, and the theoretical contributions that the ontology of health in an indigenous culture can make to the overall conception of what constitutes health care in both developing and developed countries. The Yoruba culture is discussed in terms of the three types of "ogbon" or wisdom (law, custom/tradition, and taboos) that their ancestors employed to ensure order and longevity. It is suggested that even though English may be used to deliver public health in the urban centers, it may still be necessary to retain the use of original Yoruba terms. It is concluded that health has three dimensions--the political, social, and individual or personal--and that health involves an interwoven or interdependent sense of social and individual responsibility. (LB)