Didier Lacaze

Didier Lacaze was born in France in 1955. He has lived in South America since 1980. Since the year 2000 Didier has been collaborating in Ecuador alongside official health organizations to design and execute different health related programs for indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon with an emphasis on the revitalization of traditional health systems and their integration within the occidental health care system.  Between 1985 and 1995 he worked as a project and program advisor for AMETRA 2001  (Application of Traditional Medicine) with the Native Federation of Madre de Dios, Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Between 1994 and 1998 he served on the Indigenous Health Program (PSI) with la Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP, Lima, Perú). Also between 2000 and 2005 Didier worked in collaboration with the Shuar Indigenous Federation and their department of traditional medicine. He has published books about the medicinal plant uses of the Amazon, as well as articles on his within the context of the aforementioned programs. Currently, he is the director of PROMETRA (Promoción de la Medicina Tradicional Amazónica). He teaches as a post-graduate instructor for the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar de Quito on traditional herbalism as well as serving as a consultant for the Ecuadorian Ministry of Intercultural  Public Health.