Background information

The principal traditional medical specialities are vodun, ensalmadorismo, and herbalism (83).

Statistics

There are between 2000 and 3000 practitioners practising traditional health in the Dominican Republic (83).

Regulatory situation

Although there is an official programme linking traditional medicine with allopathic medicine, there is no official registry of traditional health practitioners, and traditional medicine practitioners are not licensed in the Dominican Republic (83).

Education and training

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare offers training programmes for traditional birth attendants in hospitals and health centres throughout the Dominican Republic. The Pan American Health Organization assisted in revising these programmes in 1973 (120, 126). There are no other institutions that teach traditional medicine. Instead, traditional medicine is taught through apprenticeships with experienced practitioners. Traditional medical knowledge may also be transmitted through dreams and personal revelations. There are no official training programmes in traditional medicine for allopathic health personnel (83).