KNOWLEDGE IN PRACTICE ABOUT HEALTH CARE IN THE MIGRATION CONTEXT OF THE WARAO IN A CITY IN NORTHERN BRAZIL

Abstract

Studies on ethnoepidemiology and phytotherapy of the Warao people and an anthropological of health approach guided the way of interpreting the observations found in the health care of Warao families located in Belém (state of Pará, Brazil), during their journey as migrants.

Data collection was carried out through two means: 1) participant observation in medical and social assistance activities; 2) approach to the experiences narrated about the therapeutic trajectory in the migratory context of people who prefer to live outside the shelters. This work shows that despite the difficulties of the international migratory process, families autonomously seek care for their health through the acceptance of medical assistance techniques but also the rejection of them, because blood is a significant element in the therapeutic practices of this people; as well as the medicinal resources that they know and have available, that is: 14 species of plants, fish fat, human urine, white rum, or cachaça, pharmaceutical drugs, and treatment with Warao shamans and ensalmists. It is identified that these care practices contrast the situations that make up the under use of the municipality's health services, thus contributing to the discussion about the health services of the indigenous population in an urban and migratory context.