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


RESULTS
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).


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Vandebroek
Ina
I
Research Associate, Ghent University, Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Ethnobotany, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. ivdbroek@hotmail.com
Calewaert
Jan-Bart
JB
De jonckheere
Stijn
S
Sanca
Sabino
S
Semo
Lucio
L
Van Damme
Patrick
P
Van Puyvelde
Luc
L
De Kimpe
Norbert
N
D001838:Bolivia; D003906:Developing Countries; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019448:Ethnobotany; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007199:Indians, South American / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012648:Self Care; D012934:Social Isolation