Under the auspices of the National University of Colombia, technicians from ACTO and PAHO articulate actions to protect the health of indigenous peoples on the border between Peru, Colombia and Brazil.
The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), under the auspices of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Amazônia, met on March 15 and 16 at the university’s headquarters in Leticia, Colombia. .
With the welcoming words of the director of the National University of Colombia, Dr. German Ochoa, the trinational meeting on the main actors in protecting the health of highly vulnerable indigenous peoples and those in initial contact began.
This meeting was held in person and virtual mode and aimed to present the work carried out at the triple border for the protection of the health of indigenous peoples, developed in the areas of the projects: “Contingency Plan for the protection of the health of highly vulnerable indigenous peoples and in initial contact (ACTO/PAHO/IDB)” and “Support for the Vaccination of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon in border areas of Andean countries (PAHO/ORAS-CONHU/CAN)”, in particular on the preparations for the Analysis of Health (ASIS) of the Tikuna people who live in the three countries in the border region.
The two-day event discussed strategies to combat Covid-19 among indigenous peoples and vaccination initiatives in the tri-border regions of Peru, Colombia and Brazil.
The institutions presented their initiatives with the aim of articulating actions to strengthen the expected results in protecting the health of people living in these regions.
In the same way, professors from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Amazonia, presented the research project “A Unique Amazon in the Context of a Unique Health (UMA SAÚDE)”, whose research axis is focused on ecosystem health relationships and responses of forms of knowledge. The project also offers training activities for health agents, epidemiological monitoring and platforms for dialogue between people and government institutions.
On the other hand, the ACTO consultant, Lyli Chindoy, with the support of the collaborator Roberta Cerri, briefly presented the Situational Health Study based on the Territorial Base of the Putumayo/Iça River, which has direct links in the region of the Triple Border Peru, Colombia and Brazil .
Likewise, the indigenous leaders of Colombia, Darío Silva do Povo Cubeo, representative of the Association of Traditional Indigenous Authorities (AATI); Rosendo Awe of the Tikuna people of the Municipality of Puerto Nariño, representative of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) and Albert Pérez of the AATI Indigenous Health Commission, at the Department of Health of Amazonas, commented on the importance of articulating all initiatives with the Indigenous Health System and highlighted the importance of the intercultural character of the actions foreseen in the projects and programs, and of the traditional medicine of indigenous peoples as a basis for strategies to combat Covid-19 and other infectious diseases.
Representatives of public health services, invited experts, academics and representatives of civil society and indigenous peoples from the three countries participated in the meeting, who analyzed the proposals considering the urgency of implementing actions that contribute to the awareness of indigenous and riverside communities that inhabit the rivers. Of region.
Among them, representatives of Peru from the Regional Directorate of Health of Loreto (DIRESA); from Brazil, the Ministry of Health (SESAI), the Alto Solimões Sanitary District and the National Indian Foundation (Funai); in addition to the Ministry of Health of the Department of Amazonas in Colombia and the organizations ACT (Colombia) and CTI (Brazil).
ACTO
Within the scope of Protection of Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact in the Amazon Region, ACTO has carried out activities to protect the health of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI). This resulted in a proposal for regional guidelines for the protection of the Amazon by PIACI, a regional health care strategy, a guide for health surveillance of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Region, among other products. The actions implemented laid the foundations for promoting a regional framework for border cooperation between Amazonian countries on health issues and Indigenous Peoples, with an emphasis on PIACI, which will make it possible to face threats and epidemics in the region, including the COVID-19 pandemic and other emerging and endemic tropical diseases that affect these populations, based on an attitude of respect for the concepts of proper and traditional medicine.
PAHO/WHO
The Project to Support the Vaccination of Amazon Indigenous Peoples in Border Areas of Andean Countries, financed by the Colombian Presidential Cooperation Agency and executed by PAHO/WHO, works with the Ministries of Health to control the pandemic by vaccinating Amazonian indigenous peoples who inhabit territories cross-border. This project works together with ACTO, SG CAN and ORAS CONHU for the health of these historically relegated populations.
