Health, minorities and inequality: some webs of inter-relations, emphasizing indigenous peoples in Brazil

摘要

In Brazil, few studies have analyzed the impacts of the ethnic-racial dimension upon the expression of health issues. In their daily lives, minorities experience situations of exclusion, marginality and discrimination that make them particularly vulnerable to health problems. In this paper we primarily focus on indigenous peoples. Rates of morbidity and mortality above national levels, hunger, undernutrition, occupational hazards and social violence are some of the multiple health-disease outcomes that derive from the persistence of inequalities. It is important that conditions are created in order to revert the current situation of demographic and epidemiological "invisibility" faced by indigenous peoples in Brazil, which in part stem from the absence of information about them in national databases. This will allow for a better understanding of the genesis, determinants and ways of reproduction of health inequalities in Brazil, thus potentially informing political actions and fostering interventions.