Latin America: Open windows for the future
Der Merkurstab 2020;73(4):235-240.
Article-ID: DMS-21242-EN
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14271/DMS-21242-EN
After 100 years that Anthroposophic Medicine emerged in Switzerland and Germany with an innovative and thriving integrative perspective on health and disease approach, it is currently present worldwide. Latin America comprises a wide geographic area formed by countries and territories situated in North, Central and South America, which share many features, although each country has its own unique identity. Three main pathways can be identified in the history of Anthroposophic Medicine in Latin America. The first track happened in the beginning of the 1950s in Brazil and the 1970s in Argentina. The second track happened in Peru in the 1990s. The third track is related to the development of the IPMT cycles of training in the region after the year 2000. Main countries developing Anthroposophic Medicine are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay with relevant achievements in training, political and academic fields. CIMA (Ibero-American Coordination for Anthroposophic Medicine) forms the multidirectional rhythmic system connecting the different realities. In parallel to this development, the Pan American Health Organization increased actions in the field of traditional, integrative and complementary medicine in the region and the Traditional Complementary and Integrative Medicine Network for the Americas (Red MTyC de las Americas) was created. This network supports the Virtual Health Library on Traditional Complementary and Integrative Medicine (VHL TCIM) and the Brazilian Academic Consortium on Integrative Health.
Anthroposophic Medicine in Latin America presents itself as a promising, vibrant and heterogeneous landscape, formed by impulses with different strengths, maturation time frames and cultural qualities with open windows for the future.
1 International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations (IVAA). The System of Anthroposophic Medicine. Brussels; 2014.
2 Kienle GS, Albonico HU, Baars E, Hamre HJ, Zimmermann P, Kiene H. Anthroposophic Medicine: An integrative medical system originating in Europe. Global Advances in Health and Medicine;2013;2(6):20–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7453/gahmj.2012.087. [Crossref]
3 WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014–2023. WHO; 2013.
4 WHO Global Report on Traditional and Complementary Medicine 2019. WHO; 2019.
5 Wolff O. Anthroposophisch orientierte Medizin und ihre Heilmittel. 6. Aufl. Stuttgart: Verlag Freies Geistesleben; 1996.
6 Glöckler M, Langhammer S. Das International Postgraduate Medical Training (IPMT). Der Merkurstab 2019;72(3):236–242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14271/DMS-21099-DE.
7 Ministry of Health of Brazil. National Policy on Integrative and Complementary Practices of the SUS. Series B – Basic Health Texts. Brazil; 2008.
8 Luz MT, Afonso VW. Medicina Antroposófica como Racionalidade Médica e prática integral de cuidado à saúde. Juiz de Fora: UFJF; 2014.
9 Benevides I. Medicina e terapias antroposóficas em 12 anos da Política Nacional de Práticas Integrativas e Complementares: Conceitos, normativas e resultados. Arte Médica Ampliada 2018;1:30–34.
10 Werthmann PG, Kempenich R, Kienle GS. Long-term tumorfree survival in a patient with stage IV epithelial ovarian cancer undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and Viscum album extract treatment: a case report. The Permanente Journal 2019;23:18–25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/18-025. [Crossref]
11 Reynel M, Villegas Y, Werthmann P, Kiene H, Kienle G. Longterm survival of a patient with an inoperable thymic neuroendocrine tumor stage IIIa under sole treatment with Viscum album extract. A CARE compliant clinical case report. Medicine 2020;99(5):e18990. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000018990. [Crossref]
