Last Updated on February 1, 2026
Lawmakers in Mexico’s Guanajuato state have introduced a legislative proposal that would formally recognize and regulate traditional Indigenous medicine, a move that could bolster cultural health practices and expand health care options with cultural relevance.
The initiative, presented Jan. 29 by Deputy Plásida Calzada Velázquez, president of the state legislature’s Commission on Human Rights and Attention to Vulnerable Groups, seeks to establish the Ley de Medicina Tradicional Indígena del Estado de Guanajuato y sus Municipios (Indigenous Traditional Medicine Law of the State of Guanajuato and Its Municipalities).
In addition to creating a standalone legal framework, the proposal calls for reforms to three articles of Guanajuato State Health Law to ensure that traditional Indigenous healing practices — including herbalism, partería (traditional midwifery), sobado (therapeutic massage), and spiritual healing — are protected and integrated into public health policy.
Under the draft legislation, the state government would be tasked with recognizing and registering traditional healers, promoting training and community ties, and establishing standards for safety, research, and preservation of biocultural knowledge.
While formal recognition would help preserve cultural heritage and improve health access for Indigenous peoples, critics in Mexico have previously cautioned that state regulation risks undermining community autonomy or inadvertently commodifying sacred knowledge if it is not carefully designed with Indigenous consultation.
No consultation process took place before the bill was formally introduced. However, Guanajuato already recognizes traditional Indigenous medicine under the Ley para la Protección de los Pueblos y Comunidades Indígenas y Afromexicanas, first enacted in 2011. That law acknowledges traditional medicine as a valid option for prevention and care and calls on state health authorities to coordinate with traditional practitioners, including midwives.
The move in Guanajuato comes amid wider national and international conversations about incorporating traditional and Indigenous health systems into formal health care. Bodies such as the World Health Organization have highlighted the global importance of traditional medicine and the value of culturally appropriate health policy for Indigenous peoples, though specifics vary widely by country.
The bill now awaits review in the Guanajuato state legislature.
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