Authorities from the Federal Commission for the Protection once morest Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) participated together with traditional Yaqui doctors in the third meeting of the Herbolaria del Pueblo Yaqui project, through which this health agency protects and preserves the ancestral knowledge of traditional Mexican medicine.
Authorities from the Yaqui people participated in the workshops held in the town of Tórim, municipality of Guaymas; the head of Cofepris, Alejandro Svarch Pérez; the Cofepris Evidence and Risk Management Commissioner, Miriam Loera Rosales;; the director of the Permanent Commission of the Pharmacopoeia of the United Mexican States, Felipe De la Sancha Mondragón; the Secretary of Health of Sonora, José Luis Alomía Zegarra.
During his speech, Svarch Pérez emphasized the importance of recognizing the ancestral knowledge of the Yaqui people in traditional medicine, which will be reflected in a publication on twenty-five plant species that are currently used in traditional Yaqui medicine. Likewise, he endorsed the support and accompaniment of the federal health authority to preserve the herbalism of the original peoples of Mexico.
Each stage in the elaboration of the first fascicle on herbalism of the Yaqui people is carried out with the approval of the community and thirty traditional doctors such as herbalists, midwives and sobadores, among others. The original publication will be in the Yaqui language with a translation into Spanish and in December of this year six thousand copies will be delivered to the families of the eight towns that make up the community.
The publication will contain twenty-five monographs, corresponding to each selected plant, in which the knowledge regarding its use is described; form of identification and collection; components; as well as special considerations for plants such as batamonte, wild potato, etcho, toji, wereke, sangregado, mesquite, sitavaro, copalquin, chuchupate, manso herb, torote prieto and cosahui, among others.
Staff from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the Herbarium of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), the Directorate of Popular Cultures of the Ministry of Culture, the College of Sonora, the Pharmacopoeia and the Herbalist of the University of Sonora.
