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| Profile of the Indigenous People
of Mexico
Chapter 8 - Social Development- Part 7 |
by Prof. German Estrada
April 6, 2003 |
35. Traditional
medicine described here in its broadest sense is the
patrimony of the indigenous communities. There are groups
that have gradually abandoned ancestral practices substituting
them with reliance on health centers. However, as demonstrated
in the Profiles and Diagnostics of the various groups
the traditional medical practitioner still constitutes
a formidable resource as carrier of traditional knowledge,
and is often the only person to whom patients can direct
themselves for the cure of these diseases. The incorporation
of the traditional medical practitioner in health programs
and campaigns is an important factor in reducing mortality
among women and children in indigenous areas, and should
be recognized as an important part of indigenous peoples’
social capital. The current poor quality of health services
and limited numbers of trained health personnel, combined
with their patronizing attitudes towards traditional
medical knowledge and practices, inhibit the diffusion
of western empirical scientific knowledge and better
medical practices. This is a problem that national level
health institutions have recently tried to address.
Traditional Medicine: A Local Health Resource
In Mexico there is a pluralistic
or mixed health system where there is a coexistence
of modern medical knowledge, traditional medicine, and
domestic remedies. For a great section of the Mexican
population, and more specifically for the indigenous
population, traditional medicine constitutes the main
and often the only health resource. According to a 1984
study of the National Institute of Social Security,
there is one traditional practitioner for every 500-1,500
people.
36. In spite of
having been marginalized and even persecuted at various
times, the traditional practitioners have always been
a strongly cohesive group, a factor contributing to
ethnic self-definition, and a publicly recognized health
source. There are many examples of their importance
in the delivery of health services. In the mountains
of the State of Guerrero, for instance, a UNICEF and
Health Ministry investigation showed that 70 percent
of births were attended by traditional midwives, 17
percent by kinswomen to the woman giving birth, and
only 3 percent by western professional practitioners.
It is estimated that in Oaxaca, traditional midwives
who may or may not have received any form of institutionalized
training attend to 6 percent of the births.
Nevertheless, traditional medicine
is practiced in conditions of great disadvantage. Modifications
to the Constitution’s Article 4 may result in
recognition of the role of traditional medicine as an
essential component of the indigenous peoples’
cultures. It ought to be accompanied by corresponding
changes in the sector policies at the national level
corresponding to the social and technical importance
traditional medicine occupies among these groups.
37. There are already,
a series of projects designed to create regionally based
health centers as well as hospitals where both modern
as well as traditional medicine would be practiced.
This experience began in the Sierra Norte in the State
of Puebla, in Cuetzalan, with the creation of the first
integrated medical hospital staffed by both western-trained
doctors as well as traditional healers (INI Doctors
and practitioners from the Nahua Totonaca Organization
of the Cuetzaltec Region). The hospital has the support
of the INNSZ for surgery; the assistance of the SS for
the Tuberculosis Program, and the support of the IMSS-Solidaridad
to transport patients to more elaborate health centers.
Through a presidential directive the INI was given the
mandate in February 1992 to further this experience
and create additional integrated health centers in indigenous
areas. These include the Regional Health Program in
El Nayar, Nayarit. The creation of the Mixed
Rural Hospital Jesus Maria in the Cora Huichol region.
There are several centers now operating: Cuetzalan (Puebla)
Jesus-Maria (Nayarit), Capulapan (Oaxaca), and Yaxaba
(Yucatan). There are also small clinics with traditional
healers, among which the most notable are the San Juan
Chichicaxtepec in the Mize area of Oaxaca, and over
100 community pharmacies. Functioning under a different
model since 1990 there is in San Cristobal Las Casas,
the Center for the Development of Traditional Maya Medicine,
belonging to the oldest traditional medical organization,
the OMIECH (Organization of Medicos Indigenas del Estado
de Chiapas).
Special mention should be made to
the vital organizational movement among traditional
practitioners – started publicly in Chiapas over
a decade ago. It has culminated with the creation of
over 57 organizations, representing over 30 different
indigenous groups and 18 states of the republic, in
the Consejo Nacional de Medicos Indigenas Tradicionales,
who delivered, in 1992, the first National Plan for
Indigenous Traditional Medicine.
Source: Mexican Government Institutions
(SEDESOL)
Next week: part 8 of chapter 8 on
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
gestrada@pvnet.com.mx
Prof. Germán
Estrada is the author of the best selling book,
"México
Mágico: Everything You Wanted To Know
About... But Nobody Told You..." available in Puerto
Vallarta at The Net House, Mail Boxes, Etc., Books,
Books as well as directly from the author by internet.
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