Health promoters seemed to justify their use of herbal medicine and intended to claim value in their traditional practices. Historically, Christian missionary doctors and government personnel from the Indigenous National Institute in the '50s and '60s tried to undermine traditional beliefs to assimilate indigenous Chiapanecans to western philosophies and the mestizo culture. As a result, a competitive and unfriendly interaction between allopathic doctors and traditional healers was reported in the interviews with health promoters. Graciela Freyermurth, a medical anthropologist in Chiapas, confirms these observations. That is the manifestation of the assimilated culture of medicalization.
Most people request the pill.
Some health promoters simply believe that pills work better than herbal medicine. Moreover, many health promoters, like Carlos in Polho, do not know how to use medicinal herbs. Some health promoters are refugees or migrants unfamiliar with local plants. Some claim that curanderos are not willing to teach their trade since it is their source of income and hierarchy. Nevertheless, the creation of herbal gardens and remedies requires resources that health promoters do not have.