Medicine and Interculturalism

Abstract

Introduction: The ignorance of the population on the adverse effects that could lead to the misuse of alternative therapies, through empirical knowledge, from the various therapeutic components, used to treat different conditions, It demands the unification of the traditional medicine with the pharmacological, managing to combine natural products with chemical products, with the aim to increase the therapeutic efficacy and to reduce the morbidity and mortality of the population.

Objective: To identify the most used components of traditional medicine in the indigenous inhabitants of the communities of Pasa, Salasaca, Pilahuin and the health personnel who work in the primary care centers more accessible to each community in the Ambato canton of the Republic of Ecuador.

Material and methods: A prospective descriptive study was projected for the approach of the perception of the interculturality in health during the period January-August 2018. The indigenous inhabitants of the communities of Pasa, Salasaca and Pilahuin and the health personnel working in the primary care centers more accessible to each community in the Ambato Canton of the Republic of Ecuador were considered as a sample of the study. Descriptive statistical methods were used.

Results: We identified economic, cultural, social, demographic, population dispersal, empathy with health personnel, as involved in the use of conventional medicine and ancestral medicine, making more use in the components that use.

Conclusions: The theoretical and practical budgets analyzed allowed to establish that the community prefers the traditional medicine, either by their customs, traditions, beliefs typical of the inhabitants, which reflects the way in which they choose the treatment for their Ailments, disconditions or some pathology itself, based on ancestral knowledge.