Os usos da medicina tradicional na pandemia de Covid-19 em São Caetano de Odivelas-PA

Abstract

In the context of the covid-19 pandemic local communities located far from capital cities suffered from a saturated health system and difficulties in getting medical care, resorting to their ancestral knowledge of nature to stay healthy and treat the symptoms of the disease. This study aimed to understand the use of traditional medicine in times of the covid-19 pandemic in the city of São Caetano de Odivelas. This is a qualitative descriptive and quantitative study in which applied ethnographic methods and instruments were used for data collection such as participant observation, oral interviews, field diary, recordings and photographic records. It was observed that the municipality suffered the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic and created strategies for its confrontation from the implementation of new services and medical protocols. Traditional medicine from traditional health practices were used by 110 (87.3%) Odivelenses residents for prevention and cure of covid-19, mainly in the form of teas, syrups and juices. Lemon (Cittrus limon) was the most frequently used medicinal plant, in the preparations of home remedies for the disease, 71.3% and the belief in faith constituted the fundamental ingredient for the success of the therapy applied in 78.6% of the people. Thus, it was shown that traditional medicine was used during the covid- 19 pandemic by the population of São Caetano de Odivelas as an important element to complement the established medical therapy, contributing to the maintenance of memory, cultural identity and increasing the sense of local belonging.