Exchange between Andean and western medicine

Joseph W. Bastien

Social Science & Medicine, 1982, vol. 16, issue 7, 795-803

Abstract: Western medicine has not been functionally incorporated into Andean economic, cultural, and social systems. Evaluation studies show that even though accessibility to Western medicine has increased considerably for rural Andeans, they still rely on traditional medicine. Western medicine has not been able to articulate with Andean ethnomedicine because of different structural relations within each system. Western medicine assumes a mechanistic idealogy, chemical-based cures and technology which function efficiently within an urban-industrial framework; whereas Andean medicine assumes a synchronistic idealogy, natural-based cures and personal skills which function efficiently within a mountainous rural area with structural components of verticality, specialization and reciprocity. Verticality implies that Andeans specialize in extracting resources from a limited number of zones and then exchange their resources for those produced by people on other zones. Andean ethnomedicine follows principles of verticality in that certain communities specialize in various aspects of Andean medicines, according to the resources available to that community. These medical practitioners travel to other communities providing their services in exchange for services or goods. The author illustrates this from his research among the Qollahuaya Andeans. The community of Kaata specializes in curing by divination and ritual. These diviners are important for community health of Andeans. The communities of Curva and Chajaya specialize in herbal curing: these herbalists are important for treating physical causes. However, the diviners and herbalists complement each other in providing for the total health of Andeans. The final section deals with concrete suggestions of how certain features of Western medicine can functionally fit Andean economic and social structure.

Date: 1982
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