Felipa Huanca Llupanqui, an Aymara leader from La Paz, Bolivia, spoke to UW-Madison students Wednesday about recognizing the legitimacy of non-Western health practices.
Llupanqui, who spoke Spanish and used a translator, talked about the indigenous Aymara population and their natural medical practices, which include the use of herbs, heated rocks and animal fat.
'Health is more than just living without disease,' Llupanqui said. She emphasized the need to look at the biological, psychological and spiritual aspects of health, rather than just the physical. She also talked about the necessary relationship to Mother Earth, or the Pachamana. 'This is what gives us strength to be able to live together,' Llupanqui said.
Many of the rural Bolivian health practices greatly differ from those in the United States, and Llupanqui emphasized her country's need to acknowledge these practices, which have been undervalued by the Bolivian government.
To get their degrees, Bolivian doctors are required to live in rural areas and experience the lives of the indigenous population, which is now between 60 and 80 percent of the population in Bolivia, Llupanqui said.
'It's very important to respect the natural and traditional medicine of our grandparents,' she said.
She said she hopes that under the leadership of Bolivian President Evo Morales, a native Bolivian, these traditional methods will be supported.
'In the past, the government hasn't made alternative medicine a part of their political platform,' Llupanqui said. 'We have hope that Morales and this government will.'
Maribeth Bathum, Llupanqui's translator, has spent more than 10 years studying health in indigenous communities. After visiting Bolivia and Peru, Bathum returned to the U.S. to hear Morales being referred to as the 'pro-cocaine' president because he supports cultivation of coca, the plant from which cocaine is derived.
However Bathum explained that coca is a 'power herb,' which is used frequently for natural healing in Bolivia.
Students in attendance said they thought it was important to recognize non-U.S. medical practices.
'One of the things I'm really interested in is learning about medical cultures outside of our own,' said UW-Madison junior and medical science major Steph Place. 'I think she brought a really unique perspective because she was talking about less-Western medical practices.'
