Primary Health Care Experience with Indigenous Communities in the Department of Vaupés

On April 27, the Third International Virtual Meeting on Public Health was held, organized by the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. The event was attended by students and professors from the health sector, members of the Ministry of Health, the Bogotá Health Secretariat, among others. Pablo Montoya, our director, gave a presentation in which he shared our experience in health with indigenous communities in Vaupés.

In his presentation entitled Primary Health Care Experience with Indigenous Communities in the Department of Vaupés, he recounted the history of our organization, which began in 2011 and has been characterized by its prioritization of intercultural health and its advocacy for public health and primary health care, among other interests.

The presentation discussed the main characteristics of the Amazon region and the importance of identifying the multiple scenarios that comprise it.

“We have many Amazon regions in the country. We do not realize that this corresponds to 42% of the national territory and that there are differences in economic and social processes. There is great ethnic and cultural diversity with 64 indigenous peoples and more than 50 languages spoken in this territory, and there are multiple knowledge systems.”

His presentation focused mainly on the work that Sinergias has carried out in the department of Vaupés, a territory covering 57 km2 with less than 50,000 inhabitants, 81% of whom are indigenous. Vaupés currently has 54 health care centers, three of which are permanent and many of the others intermittent.

Sinergias' work has been carried out mainly in 18 communities near the municipality of Mitú, communities that have around 2,000 inhabitants. The work and methodologies we have used in the department began in 2012 with an invitation from the Departmental Health Secretariat of the Pan American Health Organization, in association with the Ministry of Health, to accompany some public health issues in an area near the urban center. This process began with consultation with the indigenous communities and led to the construction of five health centers.

Sinergias proposes a model that it has developed and built together with the communities in Vaupés, characterized by 14 components, four of which are transversal to all processes. The key pillars are: strengthening local capacities, community family health, health surveillance, intercultural outreach, women's health, children's health, mental health, neglected chronic diseases, and basic care. The cross-cutting components are: food sovereignty, health communication, health information systems, and support, technical assistance, and supervision. (Learn more about this here: https://museoecologiahumana.org/espacio/exposiciones-temporales/ano-2023/co-construyendo-salud-con-pueblos-indigenas-amazonicos/)

The director of the organization also pointed out that part of the impact that the processes have had on the community is the interdisciplinary nature of the work team, which is made up of nursing assistants, health promoters, and indigenous technicians, as well as indigenous leaders, anthropologists, doctors, sociologists, nurses, and public health workers, among others. The presentation showed some of the results of the intercultural processes, such as the work carried out in the area of family and home health, the strengthening of territorial governance in health, and support for the construction of the Indigenous Intercultural Health System (SISPI).

The presentation concluded with some conclusions about the proposed model.

“In conclusion, we believe that this model guarantees full participation and coordination with regard to the different knowledge systems, capacity building linked to self-determination and governance. These are territorialized processes, designed from the territory and for the territory,” providing elements to make the necessary links for intersectoral responses, he said.

The model was also found to have practical technologies and comprehensive, socioculturally appropriate healthcare, among other characteristics.

See the full presentation via this link: https://youtu.be/NL3RrOTfJ7I?t=6800