PHYTOTHERAPY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF HEALTH PASTORAL IN THE STATE OF ESPÍRITO SANTO: A DOCUMENTARY STUDY

Abstract

The Pastoral of Health is a milestone to guarantee the pioneering work of health promotion and maintenance of the traditional knowledge of the use of medicinal plants as recommended by the Ministry of Health in the National Policy on medicinal plants and herbal medicines. In the state of Espírito Santo (ES) since the 1990s, this community movement encourages and values the traditional use of medicinal plants as a therapeutic resource for the treatment of people excluded from access to herbal medicines in the health system (SUS). Given the relevance of the work developed by the agents of the Pastoral da Saúde (AgPS), this research proposes to know and analyze the documents that supported the implementation of phytotherapy by the Pastoral da Saúde through documentary research, carried out from May 2023 to November 2024. In the analysis of documents, it was possible to identify that the Pastoral da Saúde, despite developing pioneering work in health promotion and maintenance of traditional knowledge of the use of medicinal plants, for decades, there has been little dissemination about the places where they work and how they offer herbal treatments. It is necessary to carry out studies on the advances and contributions of the work carried out in the area of phytotherapy by AgPS in ES, as well as the expansion of the dissemination of health promotion and education actions developed.