HIV/AIDS in Indigenous Communities: Indo-America’s Forgotten Victims
•In observation of World AIDS Day, this research brief seeks to bring light to the oft-ignored plight of indigenous peoples and HIV/AIDS
•Little data exist on HIV/AIDS in indigenous communities, and what is available illustrates a veritable crisis
•NGO’s and national governments must act now to address this issue
Numerous indigenous men, women, and children have died from “an epidemic that may be malaria,” according to the Canadian Press in October 2010. Part of the Yanomami ethnolinguistic group, the affected towns are so remote from urban centers that health workers must travel for days to bring them aid. Officials suspect that invasive mining operations first introduced the disease. While the international movement for indigenous rights has spotlighted the Yanomami for their attempts to maintain their independent culture and identity, the desire for cultural preservation does not excuse the inability of a country like Venezuela, which prides itself on its social programs, to prevent and treat such public health disasters.
Let us change this narrative slightly: the indigenous group is now a Peruvian highland community, whose men frequently take produce and wares to be sold in cities. During their time in these urban environments, some of these indigenous men engage in risky behaviors and return to their villages unaware that they have been infected with HIV. The infection spreads rapidly, and by the time villagers start dying, a large proportion of the population is already HIV positive. From here, the plot follows that of the ‘malaria’ epidemic; since villagers have limited access to adequate healthcare in the form of screening and testing, by the time the outbreak is addressed, it has already become an epidemic.
Blog de Octavio Islas 