LA PAZ (Sputnik) – Bolivian President Luis Arce said his government will promote the use of traditional medicines to strengthen the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on the experience of peasant producers of herbal teas, syrups and ointments native.
“We have asked the Deputy Ministry of Communications to disseminate this so that Bolivians can access information about all the products we have and to deal with these kinds of epidemics,” Arce said at an event at Presidential Headquarters.
The president made the announcement to representatives of a number of associations and micro-companies producing traditional remedies, which will be hosting a traveling fair across the country starting next week in support of the official plan to combat the pandemic.
Maple regretted that the Transitional government of Jeanine ÁñezIn whose government Bolivia suffered the first wave of infections with the new coronavirus last year, it has “disqualified” traditional medicine on the basis of “products that were ancestral used to prevent and combat many diseases”.
The producers showed Arce, in the act broadcast on state television, various syrups, tonics, creams, infusions and food bars made from wild vegetables such as wira wira, matico, molle, cinchona, maca, among others.
The producers also presented decoctions with eucalyptus content, a tree that, while not native to America, is widely used in the treatment of respiratory illnesses.
Natalia Gumiel, representative of the “organic” producers, said that in recent months and despite the lack of recognition by the government, traditional medicine products have been intensively used to prevent and treat COVID-19, especially in the poorest sectors of the population. .
“In the field, these traditional drugs were almost the only way to combat the pandemic and they were very effective,” he said, as several manufacturers reported several cases of total cure for COVID-19 with native herbal treatments.
Gumiel added that other advantages of the products presented were their low price and their processing with quality and hygiene standards that allowed their commercialization.
Arce promised “full support and dedication” not only to promote the immediate use of these products, but also to improve and increase their production.
Natural anti-covid products, which until now were only available in a few artisan markets, will be commercialized from next week in the supermarket chain of the state food company EMAPA, the Secretary of Productive Development, Nestor Huanca, announced.
At the same time, the government is implementing projects to strengthen hospital infrastructure and is about to launch a plan for the massive detection of COVID-19 infections, which will be followed by a vaccination campaign that will begin with Sputnik V, developed in Russia. medicine.
Bolivia purchased 5.2 million doses of Sputnik V, of which about 6,000 will arrive this month to be administered to health workers, according to an official announcement.