Intercultural, participatory approach key to ensuring health of Indigenous Peoples in the Caribbean: PAHO director

The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, says tackling the social determinants of health and ensuring an intercultural approach are vital to ensure the health of the region’s Indigenous populations.

“The Americas is home to more than 70 million Indigenous Peoples, 7 percent of the region’s population,” said Dr. Barbosa in a message to commemorate World Indigenous Peoples Day on Aug. 9. “However, they face huge health inequities.” 

He said these include higher rates of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, and communicable diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and trachoma. 

The PAHO director said Indigenous populations in the region are also disproportionately impacted by maternal and infant mortality. 

In some countries, he said maternal mortality rate among Indigenous Peoples is up to seven times higher than the general population and infant mortality more than double.

To address this, Dr. Barbosa urged that national and local governments “intensify efforts to work with Indigenous Peoples to address the social determinants of health and equity.” 

He said countries must also recognize traditional medicine, incorporate an intercultural approach into health systems, and ensure the generation of disaggregated data on ethnicity to tackle the invisibility of Indigenous populations in health indicators.

Dr. Barbosa said PAHO continues to work with member states to improve the health of the region’s Indigenous communities, promote the participation of communities in decisions about their own health, and to ensure the implementation of intercultural health services to improve access. 

In 2017 PAHO member states unanimously approved the Policy on Ethnicity and Health and, in 2019, a Strategy and Plan of Action to recognize the need for an intercultural and participatory approach to health. 

PAHO is also working with countries in the region to ensure the implementation of a resolution on the Health of Indigenous Peoples, proposed by Brazil and adopted at the 76th World Health Assembly. 

PAHO said International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is observed on Aug. 9 every year to raise awareness of the urgent need to protect and promote the rights of Indigenous Peoples.