Abstract

CORTES CAMPOS, Inés  and  PENICHE MORENO, Paola. Health policies for the care of indigenous peoples. The case of Mayan health auxiliaries in the eastern region of the State of Yucatan, Mexico. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2023, vol.62, pp.327-358.  Epub Jan 30, 2024. ISSN 0185-2574.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.ecm/62/000xs00146w11.

This article analyzes a key component of health policies directed towards the indigenous and rural population of Mexico -the system of community health assistants-, with the aim of showing its role in promoting the use and acceptance of the biomedical model among that social sector, thus contributing to the processes of medicalization. In particular, we present a historical and ethnographic approach to the development of such a system among the Mayan population of the eastern region of Yucatán. We conclude that its effectiveness is due to the fact that it is based on the action of agents internal to the communities themselves, who become introducers, as well as mediators, of that model in their communities. The main contribution of this work is the emphasis given to the health intermediation system through local agents, a topic that has been little studied in Mexico until now.

Keywords : Health; Nation-State; medicalization; traditional medicine; Yucatan.