Traditional medicine in Yucatan, at risk of not surviving

The aging of traditional doctors is the factor that presents a threat to it….

MERIDA — The State Institute for the Development of Mayan Culture (Indemaya) in 2016 registered 602 traditional doctors, 94 more than in 2015, however, despite the discovery that more people are dedicated to this activity, the aging of these practitioners is one of the main threats to its survival.

Gerardo Arceo Martínez, Head of the Department of Care and Management, explained that it is unfortunate that in a few years more, the wisdom of these people will be lost because there is no interest among the new generations in learning these techniques. More than 80% of registered traditional practitioners are over 60 years old.

“This is a situation that concerns us, we have tried to make a school of traditional doctors, however, the maintenance of it exceeds our budget, being the dependence that provides travel expenses, since most of the people live in remote communities, in addition to the payment of the instructors, rent of the place among other things, for which the project has not materialized due to the resources needed,” he explained.

Also one of the situations is the increased cost of living today, a reason why few choose this activity as a way of life since at the moment it is not profitable to maintain a family. In the same way the technology interest is growing among the young population of the municipalities.

“Now with the digital era the children and adolescents prefer to spend more time on devices such as cell phones, tablets among other things, instead of being interested in what they can learn from their grandparents, a trade that begins to be taught from an early age,” he explained.

Likewise, he said that another of the points against it, but to a lesser extent, is the secrecy with which traditional doctors keep all their knowledge, where many do not agree to transmit them if it is not to a family member.

The registration of these people began from 2013 with a pilot plan in 20 municipalities, after which the census was formally established and it was in 2015 when a committee was organized to support them in carrying out their activities, including Cicy, Semarnat, Prospera, Seduma, IMSS, CDI among others.

Traditional doctors are located throughout the state, mainly in remote communities where there is no access to health services, and people trust in their prescriptions as a result of being dedicated to it for their whole lives.

Source: sipse.com/milenio

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