Use of medicinal plants and pharmaceuticals by indigenous communities in the Bolivian Andes and Amazon

Abstract

Objective: To investigate, by means of household surveys, the use of medicinal plants and pharmaceuticals in Apillapampa, a large Andean community of Quechua peasants, and in six small communities of Yuracaré-Trinitario "slash-and-burn" cultivators of the National Park Isiboro-Secure (the NPIS) in the Bolivian Amazon.

Methods: A total of 12% of households in Apillapampa and nearly all households in the NPIS were interviewed about their use of medicinal plants and pharmaceuticals for treating illnesses. Informants were also asked to name any medicinal plants they knew.

Findings: In spite of the presence of a primary health care service (PHC) with medical doctor in Apillapampa, an equal number of informants used medicinal plants and pharmaceuticals. In the NPIS, the prevalent use of medicinal plants or pharmaceuticals in any community depended on the distance of the community from the nearest village and from a PHC with medical doctor (r = 0.85 and r = -0.96; both P = 0.05. The NPIS communities' knowledge of plants expressed as the average number of medicinal plants mentioned correlated positively and negatively with distance from the nearest village and use of pharmaceuticals, respectively (r= 0.95, P < 0.005 and r = -0.90, P < 0.05, respectively).

Conclusion: The cultural importance of traditional medicine and the physical isolation of communities, both in general and from PHCs, are factors that influence the use of and knowledge about medicinal plants.