The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) and the governments of member countries, in conjunction with the Sub-Regional Program for South America of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO-SAM), with financial and technical support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), decided to proceed with the implementation of Contingency Plans Project for the Protection of the Health of Highly Vulnerable Indigenous Peoples and in Initial Contact, focused on border areas where the threat and advancement of COVID 19 requires maximum alert and concerted action.
In the spirit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, regional action through ACTO aims to strengthen public policies and the institutions responsible for them. In this project approved by the IDB, ACTO and its members will seek to work in close coordination with civil society actors and local bodies.
The health conditions of indigenous peoples in Amazon are precarious, making them highly vulnerable to tropical diseases and to COVID 19. There are many factors that promote the emergence and spread of zoonotic and potentially pandemic diseases, such as pollution of rivers by mercury and illegal hunting.
Particularly with regard to Peoples Living in Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI), ACTO has formulated, under previous agreements with the IDB, a proposal for Regional Amazonian Guidelines for the Protection of PIACI, a Regional Health Care Strategy and a Surveillance Guide on Health in Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon Region, among other instruments. The products mentioned above will be part of the basis for the implementation of the recently approved project.
Taking into account the problems of the pandemic and for the better implementation of this project, ACTO will soon promote, in cooperation with PAHO-SAM, a series of virtual seminars on the management of COVID-19 aimed at indigenous peoples and health in areas of border, which will be disseminated by the ACTO and PAHO-SAM website.
